The Wild West of Yester-Year
Bill Pickett
By Rachel Kovaciny
When Bill Pickett
died in 1932, his good friend Will Rogers, the legendary
humorist, eulogized him by saying, “Bill Pickett never had
an enemy. Even the steers wouldn’t hurt old Bill.” Though
Bill Pickett became famous for inventing and perfecting the
art of “bulldogging” cattle to subdue them, and while he
performed that stunt and many others in hundreds of rodeos
and exhibitions, Will Rogers was correct—a bull or a cow
didn’t kill him at age 61. A horse did.
Bill Pickett, born
in Texas after the Civil War, came from a family with a
diverse background. Black, white, and Cherokee ancestry all
combined in him create a natural-born cowboy and showman. At
age ten, he quit school for good and went to work as a ranch
hand. A few years later, he and four of his younger brothers
went into business for themselves, taming and training
horses. They called themselves the Pickett Brothers Bronco
Busters and Rough Riders.
While working as a
cowboy Bill Pickett observed an unusual way that some herd
dogs would stop or subdue ornery steers or bulls: the dogs
would jump right up in the animal’s face and bite its upper
lip, which let them gain control of even the most massive or
angry critter. I would have seen dogs do that and said,
“Huh, that’s interesting,” and let it go. Bill Pickett did
not. Instead, he tried this himself and invented
“bulldogging.” He would grab a longhorn steer or bull by the
horns, clamp its front lip between his teeth, and wrestle it
to the ground.
Bulldogging became
popular in rodeos and cowboy exhibitions. Thanks to his
prowess at this new rodeo stunt, Pickett rose to fame in the
American rodeo circuit in the 1880s, followed by
international fame. There came a point where any rodeo that
could secure him as a contestant or exhibitor drew massive
crowds. While some arenas barred him from performing because
of his African-American heritage, Bill Pickett eventually
became the most famous single rodeo performer in the
country. (Sometimes he got around the “white performers
only” rule by calling himself a Cherokee, since he also had
tribal heritage.)
For almost thirty
years, Bill Pickett toured with the 101 Ranch Wild West Show
as one of their star performers. The show traveled the US,
to Canada, Mexico, England, and South America. His legend as
a magnetic performer and skilled animal handler grew to
legendary heights.
In 1932, while
breaking horses, Bill Pickett became tangled in a rope, got
thrown to the ground, and trampled by a bronco. The head
trauma he sustained put him in a coma from which he never
awoke. He’s buried in Oklahoma on the 101 Ranch where he
worked and where the 101 Ranch Wild West Show began.
Almost thirty years
later, Bill Pickett got voted into the National Cowboy and
Western Heritage Museum’s Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1971, the
first Black rodeo competitor so honored. 1989 saw him
posthumously inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame. And,
in 1994, the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp in his honor
as part of their Legends of the West series (but they made a
big mistake—they printed a photo of his brother Ben Pickett
instead of Bill’s photo).
Though he has been
gone for almost a hundred years, Bill Pickett’s bravery and
creativity forever changed the rodeo world. He achieved fame
and renown without creating enemies, but by making friends
with everyone he could, from stable hands and rodeo clowns
to movie stars and legendary humorists. ♦