Billy_McGinty_(cowboy)
William M. McGinty (January 1, 1871 – May 21, 1961) was an Oklahoman cowboy.[1]
As a cowboy in Kansas and the Indian Territory, he became acquainted with fellow cowboy Bill Doolin and others who would later turn outlaw.[2]
A Rough Rider with Theodore Roosevelt and hero at San Juan Hill,[3][4] he also toured with Buffalo Bill's Congress of Rough Riders.[5] He was the first bronc buster in a movie, filmed during an act for the 1889 Paris World's Fair.[6]
In the 1920s, he became the leader of the McGinty's Oklahoma Cowboy Band, which later became Otto Gray and his Oklahoma Cowboys, the first nationally famous cowboy band.[7]
He served terms as president of the Cherokee Strip Cowpunchers Association and in 1954 he was elected life-time president of the Rough Riders Association.
In 2000, he was inducted into the Hall of Great Westerners of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum.[8]