This year’s Cattleman’s Ball is set to honor Bill Pickett, his family and ancestors, and the lasting legacy he left in Texas and American History. Many continue his lasting legacy with a strong involvement of his family. His great nephew, Gerald Anderson who serves as a City of Taylor Councilmember, runs the Bill Pickett Educational Foundation.

Bill Pickett was born in the Freedman’s colony of Jenks Branch, between Leander and Liberty Hill, and lived in Taylor. He was a legendary cowboy and rodeo performer with the 101 Ranch Wild West Show and he invented the sport of “bulldogging,” which became modern steer wrestling. Pickett also starred in two movies by Norman Film Studios. He was the first Black cowboy inducted into the Rodeo Hall of Fame, is on a U.S. Postal stamp, and he has a cenotaph at the Texas State Cemetery.