EDITORIAL
The Rockdale legend. Doesn’t that sound good? That’s the way Fort Worth’s Cowboy Coliseum starts out its exhibit on African-American cowboy Bill Pickett, calling him exactly that.
The exhibit is located in the Fort Worth Stockyards, sacred ground to all things western.
After Saturday afternoon, a little piece of a downtown parking lot on the south side of the Rockdale Municipal Development District (MDD) office will be sacred too.
Why in a parking lot? Because that’s as close as anyone can come to the actual spot, 115 years later, where Pickett invented the rodeo sport of bulldogging. You can read all about the particulars on page 1A. The event is being held in conjunction with the annual Juneteenth celebration.
The story is well-known and is repeated in Fort Worth and many other locations. In 1903 Pickett, after much practice, leaped from his horse and wrestled a steer to the ground.
It caught on. The name morphed into “steer wrestling” but you will still hear a lot of rodeo folks refer to it as “bulldogging.”
The pioneering feat made Pickett famous. He soon became known for his tricks and stunts at local country fairs. With his four brothers, he established The Pickett Brothers Bronco Busters and Rough Riders Association. The name “Bill Pickett” soon became synonymous with successful rodeos.
In 1905, Pickett joined the 101 Ranch Wild West Show that featured the likes of Buffalo Bill, Will Rogers, Tom Mix, Bee Ho Gray, and Zach and Lucille Mulhall.
Pickett was soon a popular performer who toured around the world and appeared in early motion pictures, such as a movie created by Richard E. Norman.
But his story has a sad ending.
In 1932, having retired from Wild West shows, Pickett was kicked in the head by a bronco and died after a multi-day coma.
He is buried near a 14-foot stone monument near Marland, Oklahoma.
Fortunately, he has not been forgotten.
And now, Rockdale’s memorial ensured his most famous act, and where it happened, won’t be forgotten either.
History, did indeed, happen here.—M.B.
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