William (Will, Bill) Pickett was a legendary cowboy from Taylor, Texas of black and Indian descent. He was born December 5, 1870, at the Jenks-Branch community on the Travis County line. He died April 2, 1932, near Ponca City, Oklahoma. He was later called the "Greatest Cowboy" of his day.
He invented the technique of bulldogging, the skill of grabbing cattle by the horns and wrestling them to the ground. He did his Bull-Dogging act, traveling about in Texas, Arizona, Wyoming and Oklahoma. In 1905 he joined the 101 Wild West Shows as they traveled across the country and in Canada, South America, and even Great Britain. In 1970 Bill Pickett was inducted into the National Rodeo Cowboy Hall of Fame.