Pecos Bill

E408231

Pecos Bill is a legendary cowboy folk hero of the American West, popularized in tall tales and later adapted in various media as an exaggerated symbol of frontier bravado and humor.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Pecos Bill canonical 2

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf American folk hero
legendary cowboy
mythical figure
tall tale character
adaptedAs animated film segment
alsoKnownAs Pecos Bill, the Greatest Cowboy of All Time
appearsIn Disney film Melody Time
associatedWith Old West
surface form: American Old West

American frontier humor
cowboy tall tales
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
createdBy Edward O’Reilly
culturalOrigin Southwestern United States folklore
fictionalSetting Pecos River Valley
surface form: Pecos River region

Texas
firstAppearance The Century Magazine
firstAppearanceDate 1917
genre American folklore
tall tale
hasAbility control over natural forces in stories
extraordinary riding skills
superhuman strength
hasCompanion Slew-Foot Sue
hasOccupation cowboy
hasTheme conquest of the wilderness
human vs. nature exaggeration
influenced later Western-themed popular culture
mediaAdaptations animated films
books
comics
radio programs
television shows
narrativeFunction comic exaggeration of frontier life
narrativeRole larger-than-life hero
notableFeat digging the Rio Grande in some versions
lassoing a tornado
riding a cyclone
notableWork Pecos Bill: The Greatest Cowboy of All Time
partOf American tall tale tradition
portrayedBy Roy Rogers
various voice actors in animation
rides Widow-Maker
symbolizes cowboy culture
exaggerated heroism
frontier bravado
rugged individualism
targetAudience children
general popular audience

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Melody Time segment Pecos Bill
Melody Time featuresCharacter Pecos Bill