Pecos Bill

Pecos Bill is the wildest cowboy in American tall tales. He was raised by coyotes in the Texas desert. He could ride anything, even a tornado. Cowboys around the campfire loved to tell outrageous stories about Pecos Bill's incredible adventures.

Raised by Coyotes

The story says baby Bill fell out of his family's covered wagon near the Pecos River in Texas. A pack of coyotes found him and raised him as one of their own. He thought he was a coyote until a cowboy told him he was human. After that, he became the greatest cowboy who ever lived.

Wild Adventures

Pecos Bill once lassoed a tornado and rode it across three states. He used a rattlesnake as a lasso. He dug the Rio Grande river when he dragged his boot across Texas. His horse, Widow Maker, was so wild that no one else could ride it.

Fun Facts

• Pecos Bill supposedly invented cattle roping and the cowboy rodeo.
• His girlfriend, Slue-Foot Sue, rode a giant catfish down the Rio Grande.
• Pecos Bill stories were first written down in 1917 by Edward O'Reilly.

Did You Know?

Unlike Paul Bunyan and John Henry, Pecos Bill was probably not based on a real person. A writer named Edward O'Reilly created him for a magazine article in 1917, though he said the stories came from old cowboy tales!