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
Time Not Measured by a Clock: Cowboy Poetry from the life of a Cowboy Wife
FC 11 J-14
61
Carole Jarvis
Haulin' Water In Dry Times
As I sit watchin' the water tank fill.
Missouri Cowboy Poetry
Leroy Watts
FC 11 M-46
227
Ron Ratliff
All For Naught
He was makin' his points with great compassion this preacher was getting down to brass tacks
Arizona Herstory: Tales from Her Storied Past
FC 11 J-13
214
Dee Strickland Johnson
Lady in the Copper Mesh Gown
Sharlot was a prairie girl reared on a Kansas farm.
James Hall, farmer, read, write, cook, clean, history, philosophy, art, biography, Arizona, mining, artifacts, creativity, pioneers, Indians, ruins, preservation, United States Congress, ancient ones, dwellings, hieroglyphics, Calvin Coolidge, Yavapai County
Sagebrush, Saddles and Spurs
FC 11 T-19
29
Hamilton Teichert
The Toy
When I was a little boy A lasso rope was my only toy, I had some good teachers.
Those Drift'n Cowboy Ways
FC 11 P-35
20
Chuck Prentiss
Quiet Tough
I've had fellers tell me, about what they knew How tough they was, and all they could do With most anything, they was close to the best but they didn't show much, when put to the test
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.
Bunchgrass, Sage and Alkili
FC 11 K-34
39
E.J. Kirchoff
Whiskey Talk
This old bronc was sure high headed. He was snorty, big and stout. And he sure was plenty wild after four years runnin' out. As a colt he'd felt a lass rope. On his hide was burned a brand. Ever since he'd roamed the rimrocks never touched by human hand.
Poems 'n' Things
FC 11 H-18
23
Fred Hardy
A Miracle in the Mission Home in Salt Lake City
Tonight I saw a miracle, the answer to a prayer, the spirit of the Lord touched someone, call it what you may.
not a poem
Both Sides of the River: Western Poetry
FC 11 W-22
16
Howard E. Wright
The Indian Valley Dance
When I was just a teenager.
Rhymes of the Ranges
FC 11 K-04
154
Bruce Kiskaddon
The Willow Creek Wedding
So you think it's sort of funny.
wedding, courtship, jealousy, cunning, mistakes, parson, drunk
75 Years! My Time In Rhyme
FC 11 M-65
viii
E.W. "Roy" Miller
The Years Have Flown!
I guess my early ridin' days started at the age of four but I gave my pony too much grain and he couldn't walk no more. So a couple of years down the road we got a P.O.A. We rode him and we drove him almost every single day.
The Exalted One
FC 11 W-25
3
Sue Wallis
War Horse
In my dreams I ride war horses.
Tails of the West
FC 11 M-44
19
Frank "Two Jump" Morris
Fall of the Cowboy
The horse moving across the copper green mesa stopped.
Sagebrush, Saddles and Spurs
FC 11 T-19
36
Hamilton Teichert
The Hunting Party
What a hunting party they did have! They'd drink some booze, Then take a snooze.
Along Old Trails: Poems of New Mexico and Arizona
FC 11 S-06
34
William Haskell Simpson
Ko-Sha-Re
Voices of laughing waters
Western Verse or Worse
FC 11 F-10
17
Rolf M. Flake
A Chip Off the Old Block
There's a certain type man.
Mormon, religion, faith, Brigham Young, heritage, church
Ride The Silence
FC 11 H-58
9
Linda Hussa
Homing
Someone's pigeons are lost. A storm pushed them out of the sky. They peck bitter rye seed beneath cracks in the feed trough flutter up, circle in graceful sweeps and down again.
dead, wind, gold, Idaho
Cowboy Lyrics
FC 11 C-03
98
Robert V. Carr
The Old Cowboy's Complaint
I stands first guard an' let the kids sleep.
night-herding, time, experience, old pro
Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads
John A. Lomax
FC 11 L-12
373
Top Hand
While you're all so frisky I'll sing a little song.
From Bull Durham to Marlboros
FC 11 G-15
21
Gordon Green
Walk with Me
Walk with me and be my friend.
love, companionship, friendship
Loose Cow Party
FC 11 B-67
20
Baxter Black
The Horse Show Conversation
"A fine lookin' horse you've got there (if yer into modern art) I had a horse like that one time (but he wasn't very smart),
Cowpie justice: Cowboy Poetry
FC 11 R-38
10
S.E. Raub
Cowboys
The trails yet to be marked out, and the land was wild and free
I'd Make an Awful Pioneer
FC 11 J-12
38
Reed C. Jensen
Cowboy Courting
The ranch-hand cowboy has a lonely life just no woman around for taking a wife
Cowboy Poetry: Cloud Watchers
FC 11 F-16
47
Rolf M. Flake
When The Work's All Done This Fall
Well, I know what it's like on an old cow ranch Where you really "hit the ball" From "kin 'til kaint"--but it's gonna slow down When the "work's all done this fall." Well I've heard that line since I was a kid And we wanted to do anything at all.
Tails of the West
FC 11 M-44
1
Frank "Two Jump" Morris
Everything Has an Udder Side
I am constantly amazed by those comin' from the eastern part of the country?