20 Facts About Bill Pickett

Willie M Pickett was an African American cowboy, rodeo performer, and actor.

In 1989, Pickett was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.

Bill Pickett was born in the Jenks Branch community of Williamson County, Texas, in 1870.

In 1890, Bill Pickett married Maggie Turner, the formerly enslaved daughter of a white southern plantation owner.

Bill Pickett left school in the fifth grade to become a ranch hand; he soon began to ride horses and watch the Texas Longhorn steers of his native Texas.

Bill Pickett invented the technique of bulldogging, the skill of grabbing cattle by the horns and wrestling them to the ground.

Bill Pickett thought that if a bulldog could do this feat, so could he.

Bill Pickett practiced his stunt by riding hard, springing from his horse, and wrestling the steer to the ground.

Bill Pickett soon became known for his tricks and stunts at local country fairs.

The name Bill Pickett soon became synonymous with successful rodeos.

Bill Pickett did his bulldogging act, traveling about in Texas, Arizona, Wyoming, and Oklahoma.

Bill Pickett's ethnicity resulted in his not being able to appear at many rodeos, so he often was forced to claim that he was of Comanche heritage in order to perform.

In 1932, after having retired from Wild West shows, Bill Pickett was kicked in the head by a bronco.

Bill Pickett is buried near a 15-foot stone monument to the friendship of Ponca Tribal Chief White Eagle and the Miller Brothers on Monument Hill, known as the White Eagle Monument to the locals, less than a quarter of a mile to the northeast of Marland, Oklahoma.

In 1972, Bill Pickett was inducted into the National Rodeo Hall of Fame of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.

In 1989, Bill Pickett was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.

In 1987, a statue of Bill Pickett performing his signature "bulldogging" maneuver, made by artist Lisa Perry, was presented to the city of Fort Worth, Texas by the North Fort Worth Historical Society.

One month later, the Bill Pickett family informed the Postal Service that the likeness was incorrect.

On June 2,2017 a new statue of Bill Pickett was unveiled in his hometown of Taylor, Texas.

Bill Pickett is later referred to as "William Pickett" by Woody Harrelson.