Most of us who have visited the Magic Kingdom have had the good fortune of visiting the fixins bar at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Café. Did you ever wonder who Pecos Bill was?
I know that I had heard the name for many years but didn’t really know much about Pecos Bill until I did some research.
Pecos Bill is an American cowboy invented by Edward O’Reilly and originally published in 1916 for The Century Magazine. The stories were reprinted into a collection in 1923 called the Saga of Pecos Bill. His stories were know as Tall Tales as they involved many feats of courage and strength.
Pecos Bill was said to be born in Texas in the 1830’s. He was raised by a female coyote after becoming separated from his family as an infant. This gave him the exceptional skills he possesed liking riding whirlwinds and using rattlesnakes for a lasso. He grew up to become a cowboy who rode the horse Widowmaker and had a love interest named Slue-Foot Sue.
Pecos Bill first appeared in a Disney film in 1948 in the animated feature, Melody Time. Disney did a great job bringing Pecos Bill, Widowmaker and Slue-foot Sue to life and Melody Times was, in my opinion, a great film. He again appeared in 1995 in a live action Disney film, Tall Tale: The Unbelievable Adventures of Pecos Bill, starring Patrick Swayze.
So, the next time you are walking through Frontierland, stop at Pecos Bill’s, grab a burger, and spin a tale or two in the name of Pecos Bill.
