Willing was born to an affluent
Philadelphia family. Educated as a physician, he married the daughter of successful merchant, Mary Ann. The young medical practitioner got into trouble by performing
abortions, and to escape potential legal problems moved to
California in the early 1850s. By the late 1850s, Willing had resettled in
St. Louis, Missouri. He left there in April 1859 to become part of the
Pike's Peak Gold Rush. Upon his arrival to the area, he worked in the "Goose Pasture Diggings" for several months. Described by the
Rocky Mountain News as a "good geologist and a most polished gentleman", Willing became a candidate for delegate for
Jefferson Territory in October 1859. Despite losing the election, he still traveled to
Washington D.C. to lobby for the interests of the Pikes Peak area. The earliest published account of his claim was in a December 11, 1875
New York Daily Tribune article by Willing's friend,
William O. Stoddard. "exposure and privation", or simply "strange and unwitnessed circumstances". ==References==