W
illiam M. Pickett was born on December 5th, 1870, near the Jenks-Branch community of Williamson County, Texas. He was the second of thirteen children, born to Thomas Jefferson Pickett (a former slave) and Mary ‘Janie’ Pickett. He had four brothers and eight sisters. He quit school in the fifth grade and took a job as a ranch hand. He watched the old cowboys work cattle with the help of a bulldog. He was amazed watching the smaller animal bite a steer’s nose and bring it to a halt. From his observations, he developed the art of Bulldoggin’, where a man would dive from a running horse, grab a bull’s head and twist it up and bite the nose or upper or lower lip and bring the animal to an abrupt stop. Bill and his brothers established the Pickett Brothers Bronco Busters and Rough Riders Association in 1888. They would travel around the southern states breaking horses for the big ranches. They also participated in rodeos, performing as far north as North Dakota and Wyoming. In 1889 he married Maggie Turner a former slave and daughter of a white plantation owner. They
BILL PICKETT, BILLED AS THE DUSKY DEMON, ON HIS HORSE SPRADLEY BEFORE HIS PERFORMANCE AT THE 101 RANCH SHOW. HE WAS THE CREATOR OF THE SPORT OF BULLDOGGING WHICH LATER EVOLVED INTO THE RODEO EVENT OF STEER WRESTLING.
