The African-American cowboy credited with inventing the rodeo event of bulldogging (steer wrestling) in downtown Rock-dale will be honored with a memorial dedication Saturday during the annual Juneteenth observance.
Bill Pickett was the first “bulldogger” in 1903. His great-nephew, Gerald Anderson, will be on hand at the memorial dedication and later to present a slide show program on Pickett in the Kay Theatre.
Juneteenth will also feature a downtown parade—with Mattie Pearl McBride as grand marshal and the traditional observance at Sumuel Park.
PICKETT—The Pickett Memorial dedication is set for 1:30 p.m. between Wolf Park and the Rockdale Municipal Development District (MDD).
Anderson will present the slideshow at 7 p.m. in the Kay Theatre. That will be followed by a dance in the same venue from 8 p.m. to 12-midnight.
Following the downtown marker dedication, the annual Juneteenth parade departs from Wolf Park at 2 p.m.
It will march to Sumuel Park where there will be free food and refreshments.
Music is provided by Lynda Ford (Lady Lynda).
Event spokesperson Elissa Benford-Roberts said the celebration is open to the public. “Please bring your lawn or camp chair and fellowship with friends and advisors,” she said.
For more information contact Benford-Roberts at 512-431-1017.
BULLDOGGING—It’s documented that in 1903 the 23-year-old cowboy became fed up with a Longhorn steer who refused to enter a downtown Rockdale corral. Pickett rode his horse alongside the steer, jumped on its back and wrestled the steer by its horns.
Observers said he then bit the animal’s lower lip and jerked him down flat.
Pickett then had a career as the first “bulldogger.” But not the last. The event became a mainstay in the rodeo world.
Pickett’s feat is commemorated in a number of places, including Taylor and the Bullock History Museum in Austin.
- Log in or Subscribe to post comments.