| |
| |
|
|
R E S O L U T I O N
|
| |
|
|
WHEREAS, William Pickett, a pioneering African American |
|
|
rodeo cowboy, endured the prejudices of his time to etch his name in |
|
|
the annals of rodeo history, and his life and legacy are indeed |
|
|
worthy of reflection and praise; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, The son of former slaves Thomas Jefferson and Mary |
|
|
Virginia Elizabeth Pickett, Bill Pickett is believed to have been |
|
|
born on December 5, 1870, in the Jenks-Branch community north of |
|
|
Austin; as the second oldest of 13 children, he went to work on a |
|
|
ranch after acquiring a fifth-grade education; there, he was |
|
|
inspired by the instincts of herding dogs to invent "bulldogging," |
|
|
a technique that involved wrestling a steer by the horns and |
|
|
subduing the animal with a bite to its upper lip; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Mr. Pickett practiced and perfected this method and |
|
|
was soon performing exhibitions of his skill while passing a hat |
|
|
around for donations; he and his brothers went on to open a |
|
|
horse-breaking business in Taylor, where he entered his first rodeo |
|
|
in 1888; while in Taylor, he served in the National Guard and was a |
|
|
deacon at the First Baptist Church on Robinson Street, and in 1890 |
|
|
he married Maggie Turner; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Billed as the "Dusky Demon," Mr. Pickett became a |
|
|
star at rodeos and fairs throughout Texas and the West, |
|
|
demonstrating bulldogging and witnessing the rise of its popularity |
|
|
among his fellow showmen; he performed with the renowned 101 Ranch |
|
|
Wild West Show in Oklahoma for more than 25 years, a time that saw |
|
|
him entertain the president of the United States and foreign |
|
|
dignitaries such as the king of England; during off-seasons, he |
|
|
competed against other rodeo cowboys in various shows, some of |
|
|
which required him to conceal his true heritage as an African |
|
|
American and instead be billed as an Indian in order to be accepted |
|
|
as a contestant; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, When this legendary cowboy passed away on April 2, |
|
|
1932, at the age of 61, his death was announced on the radio by his |
|
|
friend, Will Rogers, who spoke warmly of him as a man who "never had |
|
|
an enemy"; in 1972, he became the first African American to be |
|
|
inducted into the National Rodeo Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, and |
|
|
in 1989, his career was immortalized in the ProRodeo Hall of Fame |
|
|
and Museum of the American Cowboy in Colorado Springs; a historical |
|
|
marker was placed in 1992 in Taylor, where his homestead remains |
|
|
standing today; and |
|
|
WHEREAS, Through his daring and innovative feats, which live |
|
|
on to this day in the exhilarating practice of steer wrestling, Bill |
|
|
Pickett helped to shape the evolution of rodeo and blazed a trail of |
|
|
achievement for other cowboys to follow, and his remarkable story |
|
|
remains an enduring source of inspiration; now, therefore, be it |
|
|
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas |
|
|
Legislature hereby pay tribute to the life of William Pickett and |
|
|
honor the unique and lasting contribution he made to the sport of |
|
|
rodeo. |
| |
|
|
Gonzales |
|
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
|
Speaker of the House |
| |
|
|
I certify that H.R. No. 1066 was unanimously adopted by a |
|
|
rising vote of the House on March 19, 2015. |
|
|
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
| |