William âBillâ Pickett was one of the first great rodeo cowboys and is credited with inventing the sport of bulldogging (the skill of grabbing cattle by the horns, biting their lower lips, and wrestling them to the ground. He figuredâif a bulldog could do this to stop a runaway steer, why couldnât he?)
One of thirteen children, Pickett was the son of a former slave, and attended school through the fifth grade before he began to work at ranching. He soon began demonstrating his stunts at county fairs, eventually joining the 101 Ranch Wild West Show. Sometimes banned from rodeos because of his black and Native America heritage, Pickett never let anything keep him down, gaining prowess and esteem with his ingenuity and steadfastness. In 1971, he became the first African-American honoree to be named in the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, beloved for his death-defying feats of courage and skill and his fierce bravery and dedication.
Proceeds of works sold will be donated to MercuryOne, one of Mr. Beck's non-profit organizations that includes a history museum whose library is only surpassed in volume and significance by the Library of Congress and The National Archives. MercuryOne also houses education classrooms, a large first responder team for natural disasters, two anti-human trafficking teams, The Nazerene Fund, which has freed, fed and housed over 100,000 religious minority refugees from the Middle East as well as continues funding for Operation Underground Railroad.
