COLONEL GEORGE BIBB PICKETT.
Being one of the oldest, if not the oldest, living settler of Wise county, the history of Colonel
Pickett's career abounds in fact and incident which afford an interesting knowledge of pioneer days in this part of the state. From Clarksville, Red River county, where he had spent the period of youth since 1842, he crossed the road less expanse of prairie on a prospecting trip and arrived in Wise county, which was then the extreme frontier, in the month of August, 1854. A young man of twenty-one years and recently married, he decided to establish his home in this new country and on the outposts of civilization, and as a pioneer settler, as an Indian fighter, a Confederate soldier, a farmer and a stockman, and prominent man of affairs, he has since made his place in the history of his county and state. In the course of this prospecting tour just mentioned he fell in with the Indians on Denton creek, and was detained in their camp over night, but, for some not clearly perceived reason, on the following morning his horse was returned to him and he was directed to proceed on his way. It was a band of hostiles and the only way he can account for his escape is that he surrendered himself so completely into their hands and distributed so generously to the women and children his rations, that the older Indians repaid his liberality by preventing the young braves from murdering him. In the following year young Pickett and his wife settled on Catlett's creek, where he found abundant running water and began the cattle raising industry, having purchased the claim of James Rogers, a pioneer who later moved out of the county. Besides this man Rogers, Colonel Pickett names as settlers in that year, or who came in the course of that year, Henry Langston, Sam Woody, James Proctor, Ben Hainey, and William and Sam Perrin. Save what was called the Santa Fe trail, there was not a road in this part of the country, and other settlers might have lived around in the draws for months before a neighbor a few miles distant would have known of their existence. Some farming was done in Wise county during those early years, but- as a rule in a very primitive fashion. One farmer, Mr. Langston, made his corn crop entirely with the hoe, and yet had corn to sell every year. But cows and calves were the legal tender and the basis of value for all barter and exchange among the people. Colonel Pickett is an authority on Indian troubles in his part of the state. The Indians that happened through Wise county in those years belonged on the Brazos river about Fort Belknap, and Colonel Pickett states that they were no more prone to steal from the settlers than the white people themselves. But during the Civil War period the former friendly intercourse between the settlers and the Indians was interrupted by the federal government undertaking to enlist the Indian and buying from him all the beef cattle he could steal, and, in turn, supplying him with arms and equipment for defense and further depredation. This was the condition which led to the rupture between the red men and the whites in North and West Texas, resulting in the border warfare that continued intermittently until about 1875. The first man known to have been killed as a result of this trouble was Mr. Holden, and, the deed being traced to an Indian on the Belknap reservation, where the murdered man's property was found, his friends demanded restitution. But, their party being too weak to take possession forcibly of the murderer, they reported the situation to their neighbors among the settlers and a band of several hundred men then appeared before the agent on the reservation and demanded satisfaction or a fight. They got the fight, but not the murderer. As a result of this trouble the government removed the red man from his home and further from the settlements, and this removal engendered still more bitter feeling against the white settlers. When Texas cast her lot with the cause of secession and the war was on in earnest, Mr. Pickett enlisted at Decatur and became captain of Company B, Fifteenth Texas Cavalry, under Colonel Sweet. At Clarksville he was elected major of the regiment, and at the reorganization at Little Rock he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. The regiment rendezvoused at Pine Bluffs, Arkansas, until that post and the regiment surrendered, but Colonel Pickett happened to be recruiting troops at home when that event took place and accordingly escaped capture. At that time the Indians had become so troublesome in their marauding and murdering expeditions that he felt it to be impossible for him to return to the field, and at the suggestion of Governor Throckmorton requested his transfer from the Confederate to the state service, which was granted, and he was placed in command of the military post at Decatur and held that position to the end of the war. While Colonel Pickett's services to the cause were of the most important and responsible character, nevertheless in his performance of duty he was compelled to undergo a hostility at home which was far more bitter to him and also more dangerous than active service in the field of war would have been. Many orders had to be executed against Confederates and deserters from the army which caused exceeding animosity toward him, and, worst of all, a rancor that did not cease with the close of the war. Many threats were made against his life on ac- count of his offensive official acts and there were many attempts to waylay him as he went to and from his home, but he almost miraculously es- caped them all and lived to see all his personal enemies become his friends, recognizing the loyalty and straightforwardness of his conduct in a time and under circumstances that would over- come a less brave man.
Col. Pickett came to Texas from Owensboro, Davis county, Kentucky, where he was born July 9, 1832. His father, Willis M. Pickett, the place of whose birth is not known with; certainty, was of a Virginia family that settled near Lexington, Kentucky, where he was reared and where he married Lucy Boiler, who died in 1850, preceding her husband to the grave some thirteen years. The father was a Baptist minister, and, moving to Texas in 1842, probably preached the first Baptist sermon ever delivered in Red River county, and for many years he was engaged in the work of the ministry and in organizing churches all over the northeastern part of the state. He and his wife both lie buried at Clarksville. They were the parents of the following children:

Augustus, who died in Owensboro without a family; Mary, who became the wife of John Loving
and died in Red River county ; Col. George B., next in order of birth ; Florida, who married Joseph Briant and died near Clarksville; and Mrs. America Dinkle, a widow, residing at Greenville, Texas.
Col. Pickett married in September, 1850, Miss Cordelia Scarborough, whose father, Middleton
Scarborough, was one of the first settlers of Red River county, coming to Texas from Arkansas. The children born to Col. Pickett and wife are: Mrs. Mary Shoemaker, of Decatur ; Mrs. Thomas J. McMurry, of Decatur ; Elizabeth and Electra, both at home ; Augustus, who married Maggie Fullingim, of Wise county ; and Thomas, single. Col. Pickett was one of the most extensive stockmen of this section of the state, during the years of free grass becoming increasingly identified with the raising of cattle and horses. His horses he disposed of soon after the war because of the losses imminent through Indian depredations, but his cattle interests in Wise, Jack and Young counties he continued until about 1870. Three years before this he was offered ninety thousand dollars for his most important brands, and only a short time after this offer was declined the Indians swooped down upon his ranches and by successive raids drove off cattle until he was glad to dispose of the remnant of his herd to the government at the bagatelle of four thousand dollars, his loss being almost complete. The career of Col. Pickett presents many phases of interest and historical importance, sufficient, if written in detail, to make an extensive biography. A few words in closing this brief sketch must be said of his public career since the war. Always interested in practical politics as an ardent Democrat, he has served often in the state legislature and has left his impress upon much permanent and beneficial legislation. He was first elected to the assembly in 1874, was re- elected in 1876, and in 1878 was elected county judge of Wise county. While in the legislature he was author of a bill providing for the stationing of bodies of troops every ten miles along the frontier and for a daily patrol between the camps ; thus increasing in a marked degree the wonderful efficiency of the Ranger service for which Texas has always been noted. During the eighties Col. Pickett was sent to the legislature three times consecutively. A man of broad experience not only in the common affairs of life, but also in the events of that epoch which contains the fascinating pioneer history of Texas, Col. Pickett has long been much in demand as a public speaker. Of pleasing address, picturesque in language, full of solid fact and anecdote, his appearance in the serious deliberations of a lawmaking body or in the more festive occasions of reunions and political gatherings is certain to secure respectful and rapt attention.

Terms of Service

House, 23rd Legislature
1/10/1893 - 1/8/1895
Democrat
House, 21st (1) (2) Legislature
1/8/1889 - 1/13/1891
Democrat
House, 16th Legislature
1/14/1879 - 1/11/1881
Democrat
House, 15th Legislature
4/18/1876 - 1/14/1879
Democrat
House, 14th Legislature
1/13/1874 - 4/18/1876

(1) Democrat. Biennial Report of the Secretary of State of the State of Texas: List of Senators and Representatives .
(2) Democrat. Personnel of the Texas State Government with Sketches of Distinguished Texans, 21st Legislature 1889.

COLONEL GEORGE BIBB PICKETT.
Being one of the oldest, if not the oldest, living settler of Wise county, the history of Colonel
Pickett's career abounds in fact and incident which afford an interesting knowledge of pioneer days in this part of the state. From Clarksville, Red River county, where he had spent the period of youth since 1842, he crossed the road less expanse of prairie on a prospecting trip and arrived in Wise county, which was then the extreme frontier, in the month of August, 1854. A young man of twenty-one years and recently married, he decided to establish his home in this new country and on the outposts of civilization, and as a pioneer settler, as an Indian fighter, a Confederate soldier, a farmer and a stockman, and prominent man of affairs, he has since made his place in the history of his county and state. In the course of this prospecting tour just mentioned he fell in with the Indians on Denton creek, and was detained in their camp over night, but, for some not clearly perceived reason, on the following morning his horse was returned to him and he was directed to proceed on his way. It was a band of hostiles and the only way he can account for his escape is that he surrendered himself so completely into their hands and distributed so generously to the women and children his rations, that the older Indians repaid his liberality by preventing the young braves from murdering him. In the following year young Pickett and his wife settled on Catlett's creek, where he found abundant running water and began the cattle raising industry, having purchased the claim of James Rogers, a pioneer who later moved out of the county. Besides this man Rogers, Colonel Pickett names as settlers in that year, or who came in the course of that year, Henry Langston, Sam Woody, James Proctor, Ben Hainey, and William and Sam Perrin. Save what was called the Santa Fe trail, there was not a road in this part of the country, and other settlers might have lived around in the draws for months before a neighbor a few miles distant would have known of their existence. Some farming was done in Wise county during those early years, but- as a rule in a very primitive fashion. One farmer, Mr. Langston, made his corn crop entirely with the hoe, and yet had corn to sell every year. But cows and calves were the legal tender and the basis of value for all barter and exchange among the people. Colonel Pickett is an authority on Indian troubles in his part of the state. The Indians that happened through Wise county in those years belonged on the Brazos river about Fort Belknap, and Colonel Pickett states that they were no more prone to steal from the settlers than the white people themselves. But during the Civil War period the former friendly intercourse between the settlers and the Indians was interrupted by the federal government undertaking to enlist the Indian and buying from him all the beef cattle he could steal, and, in turn, supplying him with arms and equipment for defense and further depredation. This was the condition which led to the rupture between the red men and the whites in North and West Texas, resulting in the border warfare that continued intermittently until about 1875. The first man known to have been killed as a result of this trouble was Mr. Holden, and, the deed being traced to an Indian on the Belknap reservation, where the murdered man's property was found, his friends demanded restitution. But, their party being too weak to take possession forcibly of the murderer, they reported the situation to their neighbors among the settlers and a band of several hundred men then appeared before the agent on the reservation and demanded satisfaction or a fight. They got the fight, but not the murderer. As a result of this trouble the government removed the red man from his home and further from the settlements, and this removal engendered still more bitter feeling against the white settlers. When Texas cast her lot with the cause of secession and the war was on in earnest, Mr. Pickett enlisted at Decatur and became captain of Company B, Fifteenth Texas Cavalry, under Colonel Sweet. At Clarksville he was elected major of the regiment, and at the reorganization at Little Rock he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. The regiment rendezvoused at Pine Bluffs, Arkansas, until that post and the regiment surrendered, but Colonel Pickett happened to be recruiting troops at home when that event took place and accordingly escaped capture. At that time the Indians had become so troublesome in their marauding and murdering expeditions that he felt it to be impossible for him to return to the field, and at the suggestion of Governor Throckmorton requested his transfer from the Confederate to the state service, which was granted, and he was placed in command of the military post at Decatur and held that position to the end of the war. While Colonel Pickett's services to the cause were of the most important and responsible character, nevertheless in his performance of duty he was compelled to undergo a hostility at home which was far more bitter to him and also more dangerous than active service in the field of war would have been. Many orders had to be executed against Confederates and deserters from the army which caused exceeding animosity toward him, and, worst of all, a rancor that did not cease with the close of the war. Many threats were made against his life on ac- count of his offensive official acts and there were many attempts to waylay him as he went to and from his home, but he almost miraculously es- caped them all and lived to see all his personal enemies become his friends, recognizing the loyalty and straightforwardness of his conduct in a time and under circumstances that would over- come a less brave man.
Col. Pickett came to Texas from Owensboro, Davis county, Kentucky, where he was born July 9, 1832. His father, Willis M. Pickett, the place of whose birth is not known with; certainty, was of a Virginia family that settled near Lexington, Kentucky, where he was reared and where he married Lucy Boiler, who died in 1850, preceding her husband to the grave some thirteen years. The father was a Baptist minister, and, moving to Texas in 1842, probably preached the first Baptist sermon ever delivered in Red River county, and for many years he was engaged in the work of the ministry and in organizing churches all over the northeastern part of the state. He and his wife both lie buried at Clarksville. They were the parents of the following children:

Augustus, who died in Owensboro without a family; Mary, who became the wife of John Loving
and died in Red River county ; Col. George B., next in order of birth ; Florida, who married Joseph Briant and died near Clarksville; and Mrs. America Dinkle, a widow, residing at Greenville, Texas.
Col. Pickett married in September, 1850, Miss Cordelia Scarborough, whose father, Middleton
Scarborough, was one of the first settlers of Red River county, coming to Texas from Arkansas. The children born to Col. Pickett and wife are: Mrs. Mary Shoemaker, of Decatur ; Mrs. Thomas J. McMurry, of Decatur ; Elizabeth and Electra, both at home ; Augustus, who married Maggie Fullingim, of Wise county ; and Thomas, single. Col. Pickett was one of the most extensive stockmen of this section of the state, during the years of free grass becoming increasingly identified with the raising of cattle and horses. His horses he disposed of soon after the war because of the losses imminent through Indian depredations, but his cattle interests in Wise, Jack and Young counties he continued until about 1870. Three years before this he was offered ninety thousand dollars for his most important brands, and only a short time after this offer was declined the Indians swooped down upon his ranches and by successive raids drove off cattle until he was glad to dispose of the remnant of his herd to the government at the bagatelle of four thousand dollars, his loss being almost complete. The career of Col. Pickett presents many phases of interest and historical importance, sufficient, if written in detail, to make an extensive biography. A few words in closing this brief sketch must be said of his public career since the war. Always interested in practical politics as an ardent Democrat, he has served often in the state legislature and has left his impress upon much permanent and beneficial legislation. He was first elected to the assembly in 1874, was re- elected in 1876, and in 1878 was elected county judge of Wise county. While in the legislature he was author of a bill providing for the stationing of bodies of troops every ten miles along the frontier and for a daily patrol between the camps ; thus increasing in a marked degree the wonderful efficiency of the Ranger service for which Texas has always been noted. During the eighties Col. Pickett was sent to the legislature three times consecutively. A man of broad experience not only in the common affairs of life, but also in the events of that epoch which contains the fascinating pioneer history of Texas, Col. Pickett has long been much in demand as a public speaker. Of pleasing address, picturesque in language, full of solid fact and anecdote, his appearance in the serious deliberations of a lawmaking body or in the more festive occasions of reunions and political gatherings is certain to secure respectful and rapt attention.

Terms of Service

House, 23rd Legislature
1/10/1893 - 1/8/1895
Democrat
House, 21st (1) (2) Legislature
1/8/1889 - 1/13/1891
Democrat
House, 16th Legislature
1/14/1879 - 1/11/1881
Democrat
House, 15th Legislature
4/18/1876 - 1/14/1879
Democrat
House, 14th Legislature
1/13/1874 - 4/18/1876

(1) Democrat. Biennial Report of the Secretary of State of the State of Texas: List of Senators and Representatives .
(2) Democrat. Personnel of the Texas State Government with Sketches of Distinguished Texans, 21st Legislature 1889.