ProRodeo Sports News - March 15, 2024

Tracing steer wrestling’s roots to Bill Pickett more than a century later BY PRCA STAFF B ulldoggers often grit their teeth when taking a steer to the ground, which is highly fitting since this staple rodeo event’s roots are as a novelty-act where the cowboy literally sunk his teeth into the steer. The inspiration for bulldogging (or steer wrestling, as it’s more commonly known today), came from when 10-year-old Bill Pickett watched a bulldog take hold of a calf by its upper lip in 1882, and he decided to give it a try. The young ranch hand rode alongside a running steer, threw himself on its back, grabbed it by the horns and twisted the steer’s neck so he could sink his teeth into the nose or lip of the steer – creating the event that would evolve into the bulldogging we know today. Biting is no longer used today, instead the event requires finesse and technique. William “Bill” M. Pickett was born to Thomas Jefferson Pickett and Mary Virginia Elizabeth Gilbert, near Taylor, Texas, on Dec. 5, 1871. It wasn’t until he was 16 years old that Pickett put his bulldog-inspired trick to a more practical use. Roping steers in thick mesquite brush was difficult, but wrestling them to the ground was an easier solution. At just 5-foot-7 and 145 pounds, the cowboy rode alongside a running steer, dropped onto its back and flipped it to the ground by the horns, and bit down just like the bulldog he’d watched as a kid. Pickett took his trick for quick steer submission from the ranch and into the show arena when he and his brother started the Pickett Brothers Bronco Busters and Rough Riders Show, which toured fairs and rodeos. The public got its first glimpse at Pickett’s bulldogging in 1900 at the Arkansas Valley Fair in Rocky Ford, Colo. Shortly after, more than 20,000 spectators saw Pickett perform his steer wrestling technique at Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days, not knowing they were seeing what would become a future competitive event. Pickett went solo with the act by 1904 with a new name, “The Dusky Demon,” and performed all over the country, including Madison Square Garden in 1905 or 1907 (accounts differ). In 1907, Pickett was hired as a cowhand on the historic 101 Ranch in Oklahoma and participated in the Miller Brothers’ 101 Ranch Wild West Show. He worked on the ranch when he was not traveling with the Miller Brothers for more than 25 years. He also performed internationally, taking his rodeo show to Canada, Mexico, South America and England. Pickett went on to perform in multiple silent movies in Hollywood, such as the 1921 film “The Bull-Dogger,” which featured acts of the 101 Ranch Wild West Show. Of course, life wasn’t all about bulldogging – Pickett married Maggie Turner in 1890, and together they had nine kids. The famed cowboy died at 61 years old when he was kicked in the head while breaking a colt at the 101 Ranch. The kick knocked him into a coma that lasted for 11 days before he died on April 2, 1932. Pickett’s contributions to the sport of rodeo were commemorated as the first black cowboy inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1971, before the establishment of the ProRodeo Hall of Fame, which he was also inducted into in 1989. Pickett can also be found in the Museum of the American Cowboy, as well as on a 1994 U.S. Postal Service stamp. A life-size statue of Pickett steer wrestling was installed at the Cowboy Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1987. TIME CAPSULE ... BILL PICKETT Pioneer Cowboy

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ProRodeo Sports News 3/15/2024

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