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
Crazy Quilt: A Patchwork of New and Collected Poems
FC 11 E-21
85
Elizabeth Ebert
I Want An Old-Time Christmas
Some folks go south for Christmas Where soft, warm breezes blow. Give me an old-time Christmas I want one white with snow! A hustling, bustling, busy time; A cold, clear holiday, With half a hundred things to do And guests upon their way.
I'd Make an Awful Pioneer
FC 11 J-12
47
Reed C. Jensen
Old Reliable
My old pickup truck bought new in seventy-three
May Darkness Restore
Sean Sexton
FOLK COLL 11 S-74
3
Sean Sexton
Environmental Audit
Last of all she asked: What are the bare places in the aerial... all over this block - Did you bury toxic waste out there?
environment, audit, bulls
Cowboy Poetry: Contemporary Verse by Duke Davis
Janice and Mason Coggin
FC 11 D-10
193
Duke Davis
The Old Cocinero
The old cocinero stared into the fire, and sand an old Spanish song.
For Cowboys, Campers an' Common Folk
Charlie Hunt
FC 11 H-19
82
Roy Miller
Rodeo Routine
When I was but a young man, and growing into my prime.
rodeo, ride, bucking bronco, throwed, saddle bronc, routine, competition
Cowboy Poetry: Tracks That Won't Blow Out
FC 11 O-10
174
Ray Owens
Fifty Some-Odd Years Ago
Just yesterday, I think it was; At least that's how it seems. The world and all it held was mine, A young man filled with dreams. Of challenges to conquer
Sagebrush, Saddles and Spurs
FC 11 T-19
39
Hamilton Teichert
The Saintly Cow Herd
My brother John and three of his sons, Matthew, Mark and Luke bought a herd of wild desert cattle.
Holaday and Hampton Poetry
Hampton Livestock Commission Co.
FC 11 H-39
44
The Holaday & Hampton Poet (Bruce Kiskaddon)
Shoein' A Hoss
Now shoein' a hoss mightn't look like a lot, but it's got to be learnt and it's got to be taught.
Signature of the Sun: Southwest Verse, 1900-1950
Mabel Major and T.M. Pearce
FC 11 M-02
120
Margie B. Boswell
The Texas Ranger
In the old, old days when the West was young.
West River Waltz: Western Poetry
FC 11 G-31
124
D. W. Groethe
Old Mem'ries
I have wandered down life's trail for some time now
The Cowboy Sings: Traditional Songs of the Western Frontier
Kenneth S. Clark
FC 11 C-33
78
Red River Valley
From this valley they say you are going, are going.
The Night That Acey Deucy Bit the Bear: Poetry from the Hunewill Ranch
Ken Gardner
FC 11 G-26
29
Donna Knowles Hustace
High Sierra Secrets
As the stars sparkle like diamonds.
trails, beauty, God, memories, heaven
Old Stories
FC 11 K-26
62
Jo Lynne Kirkwood
Reece's Peace
Reece was a hard working rancher He toiled long hours the whole work week through But when the weekend come round He would go to town and have the bartender pour him a few.
Dry Crik Review (Double Environmental Issue): fall/winter 1992/93, 2 copies
John C. Dofflemyer
FC 11 D-20
17
Shadd Piehl
Paha Sapa
Four old kings stare down their reign,
Best Loved Poems of the American West
John J. and Barbara T. Gregg
FC 11 G-09
321
author unknown
I Wanted to Die in the Desert
I wanted to die in the desert.
God, spell, fascination, grave, buzzards
Cow-Gals Love Their Cowboys
Jodie and Bob Phillips
FC 11 B-50
42
S. Omar Barker
Rangeland Sleepin'
While pillows is softer fer under yer head than bunch grass or ol' saddle leather,
The Blueberry Roan
FC 11 L-17
60
Harold Lowman
Sentinel Butte
Old Butte in your wisdom.
A Cowful of Cowboy Poetry
FC 11 B-43
58
Baxter Black
Another White Horse
Another white horse just rode by, I guess I saw him comin'.
Blood Sister, I Am To These Fields
FC 11 H-56
119
Linda Hussa
Under The Hunter Moon
I slip the rifle sling over my shoulder and step into the silence of dawn Geese move through the darkened sky toward the pond Wings cut the quiet
geese, dawn, sheep, lamb,
The Humbler Poets: A Collection of Newspaper and Periodical Verse, 1870-1885
Slason Thompson
FC 11 T-04
444
March
A sodden gray in the chilly dawn
Just Thinkin'
FC 11 S-17
8
Georgie Connell Sicking
To be a Top Hand
When I was a kid and doing my best to
Breezy Western Verse
FC 11 A-11
43
James Barton Adams
The Dying Prospector
Well, Bill, old boy, I have got to go.
death, partner, love, gold, plains, lonesome
Voices From the Range
FC 11 S-34
5
Rhoda Sivell
Come With Me To The Old Range
Come with me to the old range Just for an hour or so; You'll hear the call of the range stock And the voice of the Chinook blow. Blowing down o'er the wind-swept hills Where the pups of the grey wolf play And their dens lie deep in the hidden steep Of the cut-banks far away.
Ten Tall Tales
FC 11 B-23
21
E.J. Bird
The Singing Coyotes
Saddle For A Throne
FC 11 O-13
187
Will Ogilvie
The Old Boat
The Old Boat lies in the sand and slime and the sun is springing her planks; she is drifting away on the river of Time between Eternity's banks:
hope, gold, shade, wonder, trip, pleasure