Willie M. "Bill" Pickett (December 5, 1870 â€" April 2, 1932) was a
cowboy, rodeo, Wild West show performer and actor. In 1989, Pickett
was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.Pickett was born in the
Jenks-Branch community of Williamson County, Texas in 1870. (Jenks
Branch, also known as the Miller Community, is in western Williamson
County, five miles southeast of Liberty Hill, and near the Travis
County line.) He was the second of 13 children born to Thomas
Jefferson Pickett, a former slave, and Mary "Janie" Gilbert. Pickett
had four brothers and eight sisters. The family's ancestry was
African-American and Cherokee. By 1888, the family had moved to
Taylor, Texas.In 1890, Pickett married Maggie Turner, a former slave
and daughter of a white southern plantation owner. The couple had nine
children.Pickett left school in the 5th grade to become a ranch hand;
he soon began to ride horses and watch the longhorn steers of his
native Texas.
cowboy, rodeo, Wild West show performer and actor. In 1989, Pickett
was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.Pickett was born in the
Jenks-Branch community of Williamson County, Texas in 1870. (Jenks
Branch, also known as the Miller Community, is in western Williamson
County, five miles southeast of Liberty Hill, and near the Travis
County line.) He was the second of 13 children born to Thomas
Jefferson Pickett, a former slave, and Mary "Janie" Gilbert. Pickett
had four brothers and eight sisters. The family's ancestry was
African-American and Cherokee. By 1888, the family had moved to
Taylor, Texas.In 1890, Pickett married Maggie Turner, a former slave
and daughter of a white southern plantation owner. The couple had nine
children.Pickett left school in the 5th grade to become a ranch hand;
he soon began to ride horses and watch the longhorn steers of his
native Texas.
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