Pecos Bill

**Pecos Bill** is a Texan folk-hero first written about in 1917 by author Edward S. O'Reilly.

## History

#### Early life

Pecos Bill was born in a wagon used by white settlers in Texas though he would fall out of the vehicle as an infant. Bill was adopted by a family of coyotes and raised like a feral animal in the desert. He would come to befriend a horse called, "Widowmaker" which he saved from vultures and became best-friends with. By adulthood, Pecos Bill reintegrated into human-society as a cowboy. He would become a legendary figure in the west for performing impossible feats such as lassoing tornadoes or bringing rain to Texas from California. He also travelled all throughout Texas including notable endeavours in the town of Pecos, the Pecos River and Pecos trail.

#### 1830s-1840s

Prior to the February of 1836, Pecos Bill became acquainted with the frontiersmen Davy Crockett and his sidekick George "Georgie" Russel along with another frontiersman named Jim Bowie. Pecos would safekeeping several objects for the two prior to their 1836 deaths such as blueprints for Crockett's rifle, "Old Betsy", and a satchel of stories by Russel documented his and Crockett's adventures, namely one from the May 25 of 1825. Davy Crockett also seemingly gifted Bill with a coonskin hat, powder-horn and satchel similar to those which Crockett kept on his own person. Bowie would give his own gift to Sam in the form of a small knife due to Jim's own notoriety at using similar blades in fights.

Prior to the latter's 1845 demise, Pecos became acquainted with one John "Johnny Appleseed" Chapman, a zealot frontiersman who travelled the west planting apple-tree seeds. Chapman would gift Pecos with a metal pot which he wore as a hat out of utilitarianism.

#### 1850s-1860s

Around 1861, Pecos Bill became acquainted with frontiersman Kit Carson. By the time the two met, Carson had made many notable expeditions throughout the west alongside explorer and adventurer John C. Frémont. Carson left Bill a gift in the form of a recently created map of Washington and Oregon created by the expeditions and cartographer A.J. Johnson. Carson also left Bill some scouting and cartography equipment such as a compass and pocket-watch.

#### 1870s

He would come to meet another legendary figure in the form of Slue-Foot Sue who he met when she was riding on a giant bucking catfish. Pecos Bill and Sue came to court one another and in 1871, Sue would establish the Golden Horseshoe Saloon in the town of Rainbow Ridge within the Big Thunder region. Pecos Bill would regularly perform within this saloon, namely in showing off his gunslinging abilities. Bill also did hero work in Rainbow Ridge, often fighting outlaws in the town with occasional help of Sheriff Lucky. The most notable foe of Bill's was historic gentleman-robber Charles E. "Black Bart" Boles whom tried to rob the Golden Horseshoe only to be defeated by Bill.

By some point between 1865 and the early-mid 1870s, Pecos Bill befriended one John Henry who was a slave that had just gained freedom. John got work as a nail-driver in the construction of the railroad and left several mementos of his endeavours in Bill's possession. One of these mementos was a hammer, potentially that which he used to hammer his way through the side of a mountain faster than an automated machine, resulting in his death.

Prior to 1876, Pecos Bill became familiar with one James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok, a historic folk-hero known for his skills as a scout, soldier, officer of the law, gambler, actor and gunslinger. The two Bills seemingly played cards with one another with Bill winning via a Royal Flush of cards. The cards which Hickock used to win were left in Pecos Bill's possession as a memento of their time together.

In 1878, Pecos was encouraged by his friends to make his own establishment in the form of the Tall Tale Inn in the nearby mining town of Tumbleweed. This bar would follow Pecos Bill's own, "Code of the West" which was to respect the land, defend the defenceless and to never spit in-front of women nor children. Through this establishment, Bill showed connections to many other legendary western and frontier figures of fiction, folklore and history. These customers and patrons made a tradition of leaving behind trophies and souvenirs for Bill's establishment.

One patron of the Tall Tale Inn was a giant lumberjack from Maine named Paul Bunyan. Bunyan and his pet blue ox, "Babe" were legendary figures but Paul also held Pecos in high-regards, considering him to be a, "Giant". Paul would leave Pecos a gift in the form of a giant axe with a message carved into it reading, "*To Pecos, from one giant to another; best wishes, Paul Bunyan*". Another patron with the wandering, masked, Texan vigilante known as, "The Lone Ranger" and quite possibly his accomplice Tonto. Bill was left a leather domino-mask and silver-bullet by the ranger which he kept in his bar although he never learned the gunslinger's true name. The inn also hosted Pecos Bill's friend William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody whom left Bill a pair of boots with a signed message as a gift.

#### 1880s

By 1880, the Tall Tale Inn would come to regularly served employees from the Big Thunder Mining Company, a mining which made its headquarters within the town. The Tall Tale Inn also contained the, "Mile Long Bar" which was decorated with the taxidermy sentient heads of the moose, buffalo and stag named Melvin, Buff, and Max. At-least for a time, these three talking animals would sing in the Mile Long Bar and advertise the Tall Tale Inn's meals.

Around 1880, Pecos and Slue-Foot Sue came to be engaged on their wedding day Sue rode Widowmaker who was jealous of Sue's relationship with Pecos. The couple planned on marrying in Tumbleweed's Gold Dust Saloon. However, the wedding lead to Widowmaker bucking Sue off of his back and sending her to the moon. Following this doomed wedding, Bill fell into a deep melancholy and left human society to reunite with his coyote family where he would howl at the moon in sadness every night he saw it.

#### 1890s

On the March 24th of 1894, Pecos Bill was issued a warrant of authority to be an honorary Texas ranger. This warrant was given to Bill and Widowmaker by Governor Sam Houston and his subordinate John Reid, the latter of whom was secretly the Lone Ranger who Bill had met in the Tall Tale Inn. Bill seemingly returned to Tumbleweed at some point following this event and resumed his position as patron of the Tall Tale Inn.

Likely between 1885 and Bill's return to Tumbleweed, the Tall Tale Inn was visited by professional sharpshooter Annie Oakley, of *Buffalo Bill's Wild West* show fame. Within the bar, Oakley showed off her marksmanship by using a revolver to shoot through five playing-cards tossed in the air with a single bullet. This feat was commemorated by Bill via placing the gun and playing-cards in a display-case within the Tall Tale Inn. At some point after 1887, another customer of the Tall Tale Inn was a train-engineer by the name of John Luther "Casey" Jones. Jones' souvenirs for Pecos Bill were an assortment of train-equipment such as oil-cans which he used in his occupation.

## Appearances and allusions

### Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

An advertisement for Pecos Bill's Tall Tale Inn and Café is within the queue of Walt Disney World's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The advertisement contains several allusions to the story of Pecos Bill such as saying its a place where you can, "Eat like a coyote". Additionally, there is a message from Bill on the bulletin-board which reads, "*Come celebrate my marriage to the prettiest lady in Tumbleweed, my wife Sue, at the Dust Saloon. Drinks are on you!- Bill*".

### Golden Horseshoe Saloon

Pecos was a staple of this show from 1955 to 1986 as portrayed by Wally Boag. He would do cowboy tricks for guests of Slue Foot Sue's establishment and his animated likeness was found throughout the decor. He continues to be portrayed by assorted cast-members and performers of the saloon and in the exterior areas of Frontierland in Disneyland.

### Mickey & Pals Market Café

There is artwork advertising Texas grapefruit in this cafe which shows Pecos Bill and Sue riding Widowmaker.

### Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe

The Tall Tale Cafe is a restaurant themed to being run by Pecos Bill which contains artwork of and belongings of his scattered about it. Additionally, there are objects in Bill's collection taken from a great number of famous western and frontier figures, sometimes with messages from them directed to Bill.

## Connections

### Country Bear Jamboree

The Tall Tale Cafe replaced space formerly taken up by the, "Mile Long Bar" which was closer themed to the next-door Country Bears Jamboree. This bar is alluded to as being a feature of the Tall Tale Cafe in the queue for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

### Thunder Mesa

Davy Crockett, George Russel and Annie Oakley are all figures that also have relations to Tobias Norton in the Thunder Mesa shop *Tobias Norton & Sons, Frontier Traders* in Disneyland Paris. Slue-Foot Sue, Davy Crockett, Wild Bill Hickok and Buffalo Bill are all also incorporated in *Legends of the Wild West* in Fort Comstock.

## Trivia

* Bill is similar to Trader Sam from the Jungle Cruise in that they are both bar-keepers acquainted with several legendary, historic and fictitious characters in the park mythos and whom keep mementos of said allies in their respective establishments.
	+ Bill is also similar in this regard to the characters of Arabella Smith and Jock Lindsey respectively.
* The official description for the Tall Tale Inn & Cafe mentions the memorialized western figures of the bar as having been patrons of the Inn. However as the Cafe opened in 1878, the only figures represented who could potentially have been customers are: Slue-Foot Sue, Paul Bunyan, Buffalo Bill, the Lone Ranger, Annie Oakley and Casey Jones as every other figure referenced had died by that time.
* Assuming that Bill was somewhere between 10 and 20 during the Battle of the Alamo (of which three of his acquaintances were involved in), this would mean Pecos Bill born sometime between 1816 and 1826. This would make Pecos between 45 and 55 when the Golden Horseshoe opened, between 52 and 68 when the Tall Tale Inn opened, and between 54 and 70 during the events of the Magic Kingdom's Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

## References

1. ↑ http://www.mainstgazette.com/2009/04/on-trail.html
2. ↑ http://www.mainstgazette.com/2009/01/and-thats-truth.html
3. ↑ https://d23.com/a-to-z/kit-carson-and-the-mountain-men-television/
4. ↑ https://www.geographicus.com/P/AntiqueMap/washingtonoregon-johnson-1861
5. ↑ https://books.google.ca/books?id=7JqPBQAAQBAJ&pg=PT309&lpg=PT309&dq=black+bart+golden+horseshoe+disney&source=bl&ots=3Zj789dcij&sig=ACfU3U35xIsS8FkE0IYeVzGid1pEIEQzpA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiPi7Wz663vAhWDMlkFHTIqAXgQ6AEwEHoECBsQAw#v=onepage&q=black%20bart%20golden%20horseshoe%20disney&f=false
6. ↑ https://www.disneylists.com/2016/04/pecos-bill-tall-tale-inn-cafe-disneys-magic-kingdom-5-things-know/code-of-the-west-pecos/
7. ↑ http://disneyshawn.blogspot.com/2010/03/legends-of-west.html
8. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDHhtLenCtI
9. ↑ http://www.mainstgazette.com/2009/02/warrant-of-authority.html
10. ↑ http://www.mainstgazette.com/2016/12/from-archives-my-wife-sue.html
11. ↑ http://schmoofy.com/fictional-frontier-pecos-bill/
12. ↑ https://insidethemagic.net/2020/09/magic-kingdom-mile-long-bar-kc1/