Bill Pickett (Mark Ross) Old Bill Pickett's gone away, over the Great Divide To the place where all the preachers say both saint and sinner abide And if they check his brand, like I think they will It's a running horse they'll give to Bill And a herd of steers till he's had his fill And a great big crowd to watch him ride Old Bill Pickett's a long time gone Left me here to sing this song Old Bill Pickett's a long time gone Left me here to sing this song Now Old Bill Pickett was a mighty black man, and he rode for the 1-0-1 Way down in the Comanche land, 'round the time that the West was won He'd grab a steer from a running ho'se; throw him down with a mighty toss He worked for many but he had no boss, he's the last of the great cowhands Now way down in the Mexican land, Bill took a terrific dare To try and toss a fighting bull, just to see how he might fare Bill grabbed old Toro by the horns, grabbed the bull's nose in his jaws That crowd never seen such a sight before For an hour and a half they cheered With the great Will Rogers and wild Tom Mix, Bill rode in the rodeo And for all who paid their fifty cents, they gave a terrific show For all who paid to come and see, Bill'd wrestle steers -- with his teeth We've never seen such amazing feats, because he left us long ago It was way down on the Miller ranch in the year of 'Thirty-two Bill Pickett roped a sorrel stud, just to see what he could do That sorrel stud, he pitched and bucked Stomped Bill's body in the dust At seventy-three, Bill was out of luck He took eleven days to die There was nothing they could do They laid Bill down in a six-by-three, beneath the land he knew And at the head they placed a cross, said "of his kind we've seen few" Then 'round the fire they drank some wine And old Zack Miller wrote these lines Left 'em there for me to find To put to music and sing to you JN
Thanks to Mudcat for the Digital Tradition!