Steamboat Williams (Reese Gephardt Williams) was a talented young Cascade baseball player.  Born in Cascade, he batted left-handed and threw right-handed. He was 5 ft. 11 in. and weighed 170 pounds.

Around 1910 18-year-old Rees began playing baseball for a team made up of the neighboring ranches against the Cascade town team, but soon transferred to the Cascade town team. He made the 16-mile horseback ride twice a day for 35 cents pay. One of the most passionate supporters of the Cascade ball team was Mary Fields.

Rees became a Major League Baseball player in 1914 and 1916 for the St. Louis Cardinals.  When he debuted with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1914, pitcher Rees “Steamboat” Williams became the first of only 10 men born and raised in the state of Montana to play Major League Baseball.  In 1916, Williams led the National League in games finished. Williams’s major league record of 6-8 is dwarfed by his minor league achievements. He appeared in 305 minor league games, earning at least 116 victories over eight seasons. “Steamboat Williams was an arm-for-hire in the competitive semi-pro leagues so popular in Minnesota until at least 1924”.  His last game appears to be October 1, 1916 with Stillwater in the Friendly Valley league. 

He died June 29, 1979 in Deer River, MN and is buried at Olivet Cemetery in Deer River, Minnesota. His mother, Anna, died in 1929, and is buried along with her husband Frank at Hillside Cemetery north of Cascade.