Bill Pickett: The Life of the Legendary Rodeo and Wild West Show Performer

*Includes pictures


*Includes a bibliography for further reading


The Wild West made legends out of many men and women through the embellishment of their stories, but it was Buffalo Bill Cody who truly brought the Wild West to life and provided the images that people still associate with the 19th century West today. Though he had a long career that spanned service in the Civil War, trapping, and even a stint with the Pony Express, Buffalo Bill eventually became synonymous with his world-famous Wild West Show. By depicting stereotypical Western scenes like riding the Pony Express, and gunfights between cowboys and Indians, Buffalo Bill became one of the men most responsible for establishing how the public remembered the Wild West, and the show influenced subsequent film and literature. The show also featured several kinds of activities that are still part of rodeos today, including riding bucking broncos, roping livestock, and target shooting.


Almost absent in the perceptions of modern America is the comprehension of African Americans participating so prolifically in the building of the nation. Print fiction idealizing the cowboy life to Eastern readers would not depict what had ignited the war for which so many had an utter revulsion. The black man of the post-war years did not inspire the white spirit so essential for reveling in the old system. The 20th century’s television and cinematic offerings operated on the same drive, and the existence of black cattle workers was all but blotted out. Indeed, many of the modern age are barely aware that an African-American ever “stepped foot on the West bank of the Mississippi River.” No one saw the black cowboy on screen or in print, the two information industries that shaped our perception of America’s westward expansion. Therefore, a collective assumption that they must never have existed at all was nationally internalized.


Willie “Bill” Pickett, an expert rider and ranch hand, concluded that if the dogs could do it, a man could as well. Pickett is credited with the invention of modern “bulldogging,” regularly seen in the modern rodeo as a varied form of calf roping and bull riding. This practice, not a standard feature of ranch life, became Pickett’s answer to recalcitrant cattle after watching the ranch bulldogs subdue and dominate strays. Despite the disparity in size between the two animals, once the canine had locked his teeth onto the upper lip of the steer, the larger creature was stunned into a state of utter helplessness. Pickett’s perception of the process led him to wonder if a human might not be able to prevail in the same manner by duplicating the dog’s agility. One can only marvel at the dubious display of courage, but Pickett perfected the bulldog’s talent from horseback. Riding alongside the steer, he vaulted onto his prey with a grip on both horns. Twisting the steer’s head upward to the sky, and biting him on the upper lip, the beast was wrestled to the ground. With teeth still gripping the soft tissue, Pickett was able to maintain control while throwing open both hands as entertainment, a 19th century version of “Look ma, no hands.” With such control, he could then simply knock his prey to the ground, despite his diminutive and light frame. Pickett’s paradigm for subduing cattle came to be known among the cowboy community as “kissing the bull.” That this innovation in cattle management did not quickly catch on is understandable, as fellow cowboys were personally put off by the thought of biting a bull on the mouth. For most, a good dog continued to suffice.