b'Bill Picke ttAmerican Cowboy HeroPART 3 By Alan RockmanI t was ironic, to say the least,Miller Brothers performers survived a serious train wreck.In addition to being a performer, Pickett that the Miller BrothersRecuperating, Pickett and company then spent the late themselves, all sons of Georgesummer and early fall doing shows back in the mid-west Washington Miller, himself astates. The remainder of the fall saw the troupe doing showswas a working cowboy at the Miller VERY "unreconstructed," slave- in the Deep South through Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama,Brothers 101 Ranch for 30 years.owning, Rebel soldier who mayMississippi, and Louisiana - culminating with a final show have served in the 11th Kentuckyof the season - but not of the year (as will be noted shortly) Cavalry (thus seeing action at the October 1862 Battle ofon December 3rd in Brownsville, Texas (Ibid., pp. 72-74).(though again, no evidence of it) in "Coloreds Only" hotels. Perryville - the bloodiest battle fought on Kentucky soil),Pickett also often endured discrimination closer to home in in their own way to make their new star attraction, himselfThe Millers had made sure that every rodeo was indeedOklahoma. One example of this was Pickett being denied the son of a former slave, welcomed on their spacious 101almost like a Medieval pageant, albeit with a Western touch,entrance to a local restaurant. He enjoyed the hot and good Ranch grounds. When Pickett, who had just signed on withwith performers gaily and neatly attired, riding into thefood of the Bliss Cafe, but he could never enter the cafe to the Millers had been seriously injured bulldogging a steer atarenas atop well-fed, well-groomed horses, with the finestsit down and enjoy his meal. One of his best white friends, the Jamestown Expedition, it was the Millers who arrangedsaddles across their backs. The Millers had almost alwaysArthur Rynearson, who was a drugstore owner in Bliss, for him to be treated at their emergency hospital andarranged to have two bands performing at the arena shows,would often go to the cafe, order a dinner to go, and bring insisted that Pickett rest and recuperate until he was better.with one band playing standards and Western-style musicit back to Pickett who would enjoy it in the back room of After a week in bed, still weak from his injuries Pickettas the rodeo stars entered the arenas, the other a side- Rynearson\'s pharmacy (Ibid, pp.71-72).insisted on returning to the arena much to the surprise ofshow band that played Dixieland music during interludes. Zack Miller, who allowed his new top star attraction to ropeAll of the conductors and musicians hired by the MillerThe Pickett family would often invite non-Black friends to and ride once more to his heart\'s content (Hanes, ColonelBrothers were top-notch. For example, one of their earliesttheir home for dinner and friendly conversation, and it is Bailey C., Bill Pickett Bulldogger, University of Oklahomaconductors, William Sweeney, had been the chief conductorknown that three of the attendees were Mix, Mulhall, and Press, Norman, Oklahoma, 1977, p. 69). of the Buffalo Bill Wild West shows for 26 years beforeWill Rogers - but if Mix and Rogers enjoyed the company signing on to the 101 Ranch shows (Wallis, Michael, Theof their close friend, they never wrote about Pickett or those The Millers also went out of their way, unheard of in thoseReal Wild West, St. Martin\'s Press, New York, 1999, p. 296).dinners in their autobiographies or writings. Whether this segregated times, to build a home for Bill and his family. ItThere were up to 20 separate performances (displays) inwas an accidental omission or fear of alienating their fans it was a two-room with a lean-to on 101 Ranch grounds, quiteeach of the 101 Ranch Wild West shows, the 10th waswas buried with them after they died, Rogers just three years close to the main ranch house. It is quite astonishing whenthe one spotlighting the one attraction so many came toafter Pickett\'s demise, Mix dying in that Florence, Arizona you think about it that these sons of a Rebel practicallysee - the spectacle of the "Dusky Demon" performing hisauto accident just five years after Rogers passed on, but it was made Bill Pickett, the son of a slave, his wife, and daughters,bulldogging act - Bill Pickett. only Lucille Mulhall, who was also a frequent guest enjoying extended members of their family. For his part Picketther time at the Pickett home, apparently not afraid of career became a "permanent cowhand" for the Millers (Ibid, p.Heck, all of the rodeo performers themselves were top-notch,damage enough to mention that "Bill was a square shooter" 70), roping, riding, and doing ranch chores whenever hewhether they be Pickett, Tom Mix, Lucille Mulhall, or the restwho had helped her many times at 101 rodeo shows (Ibid, wasn\'t on tour and performing. Still, however, they wouldof the unsung Cowboy performers who went to work on thep. 70).Rogers though, would later publicly comment at pay Pickett much less in wages than they would to their101 Ranch Rodeo shows. The Millers were usually generousthe time of Pickett\'s passing that "Bill Pickett never had an white Cowboy performers, perhaps never quite cleaning upand fair with their employees, especially if their performersenemy. Even the steers wouldn\'t hurt old Bill" (Ibid., p. 180).the family\'s deplorable racist history. Pickett stayed on withperformed well and were loyal to them. Joe Miller had, them, perhaps realizing he would have fewer possibilities insome years before the 101 Ranch shows took shape, spentTHE GOLDEN AND NOT-SO-GOLDEN DAYS OF the then Jim Crow world of turn-of-the-century Americatime in federal prison for counterfeiting, so he was alwaysTHE 101 RANCH WILD WEST SHOWS 1908-1916:- and knowing that otherwise, the Millers had been fair inconsiderate of a Cowboy down on his luck and would neverTROUBLE IN MEXICO other matters outside of providing equal pay. prosecute or fire someone unless he absolutely had to due"1908 to 1916 were undoubtedly the most satisfying and to dishonesty or being disloyal (Ibid., 195-196, Hanes, p.71).lucrative years for the Millers and their assortment of It was said too, by his children, that Pickett preferredPickett was a particular favorite of Joe Miller\'s; besides beingcolorful entertainers. Throughout that incredible time, it the company of white folks, being quite upset that Blacka star attraction he was honest, hard-working, and aside fromseemed that literally every red-blooded American boy and friends and relatives had often exploited his fame - and tookan occasional one too many nips at the bottle, pretty muchgirl - not to mention legions of grown men and women things from his home, whereas he had established a certainstayed out of trouble. He was arrested in England during- wanted to run away and join the 101. They pictured camaraderie with his white bosses and fellow Cowboysthe fateful 1914 tour on charges of "animal cruelty" but thethemselves as either Wild West performers or working (Ibid., pp. 165-166). Millers quickly paid the fine. The only other time he wouldranch hands. Sadly, most of those failed to achieve their find himself in the jailhouse was towards the end of his lifedreams. But a surprisingly large number of applicants saw Pickett and his family would eventually move to an evenwhen he was arrested for supposedly concocting moonshinetheir dreams realized" (Wallis, p. 301).larger home just a few miles away from the Miller Ranch- and resisting arrest. However the charges never held up in in Bliss, Oklahoma, but he would never leave the Millerscourt and he was again soon released. It has to be said that while those first 1908 stateside and service for the next quarter century, until his sad demise. Canadian shows were well-received, these first Miller All in all, it was a dizzying stream of shows, performances,Brothers 101 Wild West shows did not do as well financially For now, though, Pickett would rarely be home as rodeos,and events for Pickett, who saw parts of the country heas hoped. Approached by Mexican promoters and always conventions, and fairs were constantly on the Millerhad never been in before. While there is no mention ofwilling to push the envelope, the Millers decided on one Brothers\' docket. In fact, immediately after Pickett and hisdiscrimination, there is no doubt that Pickett and the otherlast tour to close out 1908, a decision that would physically family had settled in, the 1908 Rodeo season had begun,Black Cowboys on the 101 Ranch tours did suffer. How theyendanger their cowboy entourage, but especially Bill Pickett. and Bill was back on the road with the 101 Ranch team ofendured the ridicule and the indecency is little-known, forThe Mexican finale was one Pickett would soon regret and performers, doing non-stop shows in Oklahoma, Missouriboth Hanes and Willis make scant if any direct mention ofwish to forget as the Millers had misjudged the mood and and the mid-west throughout the late spring and earlyit. This writer has tried to get concrete confirmation. Still,the temperament of the Mexican audiences. Although the summer, then without rest it was up to Canada for 10 days,it is a certainty that when touring the South, for example,Mexican Revolution was still two years in the future, the pre-including a Dominion Day show in Calgary where PickettPickett either stayed in accommodations set up for him byrevolutionary crowds - not to mention the local Matadors was acclaimed as the star of the show in front of thousandsthe Millers, who did their best to shield him from the worst- were in an angry and very ugly mood, resentful of all of admiring, cheering Canadians. Then, it was back to theforms of racism, sometimes arranging to register him as anAmericans, but perhaps especially more so of one whom they states with shows in Montana and North Dakota where theIndian for performances (if that would help), or perhapsfelt had the gall to show up their local heroes.54 November 2022'