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
Graining the Mare: The Poetry of Ranch Women
Teresa Jordan
FC 11 J-10
118
Thelma Poirier
Madame Caillier
Driving into light you close your eyes.
Poetry of Ranch Women
Muddled Meanderings of Yesteryear
FC 11 R-14
48
Bob Ross
Autumn
Morning air that's cool and crisp
From the Pages of Her Heart
FC 11 M-28
4
Frances May Dorr Wheeler
Biography of Frances May Dorr Wheeler
Buckles and Buns Beneath the Big Sky
FC 11 V-03
12
Elizabeth "Buzzy" Vick
Cowgirl Legend
There's an old cowgirl legend
Fair Girls and Gray Horses
FC 11 O-12
259
Will H. Ogilvie
Sorry to Go!
I watched by the homestead where moon-beam and star Made a glory of night-time and danced with the dew, And the bush wind that whispered from ranges afar Set a-tremble the kurrjong leaves as it blew:
Songs of the Cattle Trail and Cow Camp
John A. Lomax
FC 11 L-13
179
Ridin' up the Rocky Trail from Town
We're the children of the open and we hate the haunts o' men.
An Aussie Turned Cowboy Wife
FC 11 S-45
34
Marie W. Smith
September Aspens
I linger midst the aspens.
Chips of Thought: Poems, Lyrics and Ballads from the Heart
FC 11 T-02
32
Gene Taylor
The Despain Reunion
I was sittin' there dozin' when Geneva said, "Honey,
Songs of the Outlands: Ballads of the Hoboes and Other Verse
FC 11 K-07
39
Henry Herbert Knibbs
Gentrytown
In vain the city voices call; The outlands claim us evermore.
End o' the Trail
FC 11 P-07
5
Guy Parker
Hold Everything
I've seen it hot, I've seen it cold
life
A Look at the Cowboy
FC 11 G-30
21
Max R. Godfrey
The Naming Dispute
Now Pete and Leo were horsemen they say who had a dispute one warm summer day.
Cowboy Poetry: Tracks That Won't Blow Out
FC 11 O-10
64
Ray Owens
The Schoolmarm
She wasn't very pretty; fact o' bizness, downright plain A little tall and gangly and she coulda stood to gain Some paddin' in the places
Partners in Poetry
Irene Pecoraro and Blondell Whitehead
FC 11 P-01
17
Blondell Whitehead
Old Mack
Over the pass in a blinding storm, Old Mack had fought his way
Tails of the West
FC 11 M-44
7
Frank "Two Jump" Morris
Born Again Cowboy
My old mother said it was sinful.
Intermountain Folk: Songs of Their Days & Ways
FC 11 S-04
23
E. Richard Shipp
The Land God Blest
Centuries ago, God built the West,
Bygone Days of the Old West
FC 11 L-01
376
Fred Lambert
Black Bart
"He wasn't a grizzled bandit; No hardened bandit's poise.
Cowboy Poetry: Classic Rhymes by S. Omar Barker (1894-1985)
Jodie and Bob Phillips
FC 11 B-44
34
S. Omar Barker
Hunted Men
A cowboy rode up on his bald-faced pony.
On Desert Trails
FC 11 F-03
1
Jewel Finley
My Desert Home
Where the bare ridges slope.
desert, home
Melodious Poems From the Hills
FC 11 B-58
30
Sandia Bill
We
We are the livelihood of creation, We inhabit the clouds and deserts of the sky; We are the controlling influence of all suns and planets.
The Song of the Hunter
FC 11 L-40
23
Robert L. Laumeyer
Thoughts
I have a private garden Where no one may go but me. ere I find the space to grow Anything that pleases me. I do not weed this garden. It is not a place of show. When an idea comes to me, I plant it, and let it grow
For Cowboys, Campers an' Common Folk
FC 11 H-19
65
Charlie Hunt
The Campfire
Did you ever sit by the campfire.
camp fire, night, stars, moon, herding, owl, coyote
Cowboy Poultry Gatherin'
FOLK COLL 11 A-23
9
Darrell Arnold
Love Like the Wind
Love starts like the breeze on a warm summer day, Stirring the flower from its place, Caressing and brushing the trembling bloom As it sways in the swirling embrace.
love, wind, passion, flower
The Humbler Poets: A Collection of Newspaper and Periodical Verse, 1870-1885
Slason Thompson
FC 11 T-04
229
Madge Morris
Rocking the Baby
I hear her rocking the baby
Best Loved Poems of the American West
John J. and Barbara T. Gregg
FC 11 G-09
64
author unknown
The Ballad of Tonopah Bill
Tonopah Bill was a desert rat who had traveled the gold camps through.
rumor, Rio Grande, luck, optimism, Milky Way, St. Peter, lawless mining crew, Saint, bluff, heaven, story, humor
Hey! Elko
FC 11 P-05
50
M.H. Porter
Fickle Winter
Tiny creek lets, work their way, Down the mountain in the bright sunshine of day