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Bill Pickett, 1870-1932
Born Travis County (or Jenks Branch), Texas
While working as a cowhand in Texas, Bill Pickett developed the dramatic "bull-dogging" technique that brought him international fame. Leaping from a galloping horse, Pickett would grab a steer by the horns and twist back its head, taking hold of its upper lip with his teeth until the bull fell to the ground. He performed the stunt in the 101 Ranch's Wild West Shows, traveling from coast to coast and as far north as Canada. During a performance in Mexico, he brought down a bull with his bare hands. Pickett performed his "death-defying feats" before the king and queen of England in 1914 and in the film The Bull-Dogger, advertised by this poster, in 1923. Named to the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in 1971, he was honored in 1993 with a stamp in the U.S. Postal Service's "Legends of the West" series.
Ritchey Lithographic Corporation, 1923 |