FOLK COLLECTION 11: The Skaggs Foundation Cowboy Poetry Collection
Folk Coll 11 is Utah State University's cowboy poetry collection. The collection, originally created
by a generation donation by the L. J. and Mary Skaggs Foundation, includes books gathered
during a fieldwork project in the early 1980s to document cowboy poetry in the U.S. west (see Folk
Coll 11f). From this important fieldwork project came the impetus for the first Cowboy Poetry Gathering held in
January 1985 in Elko, Nevada. Since that time, each January, the Fife Folklore Archives staff take the collection
and Access database (that details each book, poem, author, first line and key words), to the National Cowboy Poetry
Gathering for offsite use. Through University purchases and generation donations from poets and collectors, this collection continues to grow.
Book Title
Composer
Call #
Pages
Author
Poem Title
First Lines
Keywords
Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas
Jim Hoy
FOLK COLL 11 H-62
101
F. H. Maynard
The Dying Cowboy
As I rode down by Tom Sherman's barroom, Tom Sherman's barroom so early one day, There I espied a handsome young ranger All wrapped it white linen, as cold as the clay.
sadness, death, ranger
One Man of a Kind
FC 11 B-17
18
Everett Brisendine
The Sleepered Bull of Beaver Canyon
In Arizona's rugged mountains.
Beaver Creek, Arizona, Beaver Canyon, wild cows, Sleepered Bull, calf, bull, branding
Fair Girls and Gray Horses
FC 11 O-12
29
Will H. Ogilvie
Whisper Low
We have rowed together at even-fall Down the creek in the sunset glow, Under the vines and the box-trees tall That fringe the shores.
Poems from the Alamo Saloon
FOLK COLL 11 L-45
198
Paul Thomas Lillard
Advice
If you wish old age to see, let sleeping dogs lie, let rattlers be.
sleeping dogs, rattler, see
Buck Ramsey, Texas Spirit
David Kelley
FOLK COLL 11 R-47
58
Jon Messenger
Unnamed
Into the sunset he's ridden off, Into that vast domain, The man who blazed the trail for us, Out through the breaks of his solemn plain.
sunset, death, horseback
Newest Poems: Western Poems
FC 11 R-25
32
Carl "Skinny" Rowland
A Quick Way to Learn
Now Mom she used to whip us,
Saddle Pals
FC 11 S-56
5
She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain
She'll be comin' round the mountain, when she comes
Ropin', Ridin' and Ranchin'
FC 11 F-22
13
Dennis Flake
Christmas with Christensens
Well, Santa Clause, is it true That you're coming here tonight, With you sleigh bells and your reindeer and your suit of red and white?
Bronc to Breakfast and Other Poems
FC 11 L-23
66
Mike Logan
B Movie Badman
He rode a blaze faced sorrel.
Night Herding Song
FC 11 H-10
50
Gerald Hausman
Early Spring on Frog Creek Boulder
White wine and bonfire sparks.
celebration
Shorty's Yarns: Western Stories and Poems of Bruce Kiskaddon
FC 11 K-28
47
Bill Siems, ed.
Bill Does a Fan Dance
After Bill got the worst of the school marm joke things went along purty smooth fer a spell. Then, spring and the boss's niece came to the ranch long about the same time.
Arizona Women: Weird, Wild and Wonderful
FC 11 J-16
33
Dee Strickland Johnson
Emma Lee of Lonely Dell
When we started out from England, we felt our souls released
Diary of a Cow Camp Cook: Or Buckaroos Around a Campfire Beats a Full House
FC 11 H-55
19
Linda Vinson Hussa
May 18
The next morning work begins in earnest. The desert's dust must be washed out of the chuckwagon, which is kitchen, pantry, and bedroom, to prepare for its maiden voyage.
cattle drive, packing, preperation
Poems, Facts and Fiction
FC 11 O-03
76
Harold Otto
Earl L. Otto
In nineteen hundred and twenty-eight on the tenth of January,
Harry Tales: Volume I
FC 11 H-23
4
Les Harry
Gee Gee
I have not known my Gee Gee long.
family, grandmother, mother, grandfather, child, children
Sagebrush, Saddles and Spurs
FC 11 T-19
20
Hamilton Teichert
Stormy Weather 1983
It's a beautiful day Down on the farm, The sun is bright.
Don McLennan Cowboy Poetry
FC 11 M-62
3
Don McLennan
The Tilted Christmas Tree
The tree was slightly tilted, some ornaments on the floor
Counting the Aerie Escalator's Steps: Bald Mountain Poems Winter 80/81
FC 11 P-06
20
Scott Preston
Charonic Fantasia "Down Under"
vessels intestine-hurtle down thru
Trail Dust : Sketches on the Trail
FC 11 H-03 v. 2
17
W. Howard Hamm
Th' Church in the Canyon
Th' church up in th' canyon...
Bruce Kiskaddon Calendar Poems: 1951/2001
FC 11 K-20
1
Bruce Kiskaddon
Alfalfa Bloat
There's nothing gits a rancher's goat.
Poems of American Cowboys & Nature
FC 11 C-04
104
Bob A. Carson
The Sun, Moon, and Stars
When the sun comes up.
Night Herding Song
FC 11 H-10
7
Gerald Hausman
Night Herding Song
Big horse in the meadow.
sleep
RU Lazy 2?
FC 11 N-15
35
A.G. Nelson
Colts and Sage Chickens
Throughout my life I've noticed, There are certain things that don't mix; Such as water in your motor oil, That leaves your engine in quite a fix.
The Cowboy in Verse & Photography
FC 11 M-06
23
J'Wayne McArthur
Levis
A cowboy's pants are Levi brand.
Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads
John A. Lomax
FC 11 L-12
335
The Cowboy's Christmas Ball
Way out in Western Texas, where the Clear Fork's waters flow.