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
Chips of Thought: Poems, Lyrics and Ballads from the Heart
FC 11 T-02
24
Gene Taylor
Our Living God
After studying the gospel
Catching It Whole: A First Collection of Poems
FC 11 P-02
33
R.J. Petrillo
Out Here
It doesn't get any better. I'm so afraid of losing her, I scatter passion's glowing coals aimlessly about the sand and watch
What I Learned On the Way to Life: Insights and Concepts learned along the way..
FC 11 J-15
109
Hans "Jake" Jeppson
Had I Known You Then
Had I known you then and brought a rose.
In Camp And Trench: Songs of the Fighting Forces
FC 11 B-55
33
Berton Braley
Turnabout
To-day I am only a private That every one orders about;
Cowboy Poetry Matters: From Abilene to the Mainstream: Contemporary Cowboy Writ.
Robert McDowell
FC 11 M-54
178
Paul Zarzyski
Putting the Rodeo Try into Cowboy (in memory of Buck Ramsey)
Let's begin with the wildest landscape, space inhabited by far more of them than our own kind and, yes, we are talking other hearts
Galloping Shoes
FC 11 O-7
7-8
Will H. Ogilvie
The Opening Run
The rain-sodden grass in the ditches is dying the berries are red to the crest of the thorn
Missouri Cowboy Poetry
Leroy Watts
FC 11 M-46
304
Dennis Williams
Not Long Ago
Not long ago I camped by a creek
Cowboy Poetry: Lore and Landscape of the West (Herald Journal,Sun, 16 Feb 1986)
FC 11 C-47
13
Jon Pentz
Tired of Town
I'm fed up with this life I live. Oh what a shame and pity.
Cowboy Meditations
FC 11 L-02
38
Wade Lane
The Desert
Mile upon mile o' open spaces broken only by Nature's freak plantin' in little clusters o' trees.
Orejana Bull: For Cowboys Only
FC 11 G-16
17
Gail I. Gardner
Ore Train
Yoke up the steers.
mining, mine, ore, smelter, ox, oxen, heart, treasure, men, depth
Tracks in the sand: original cowboy poetry
FC 11 W-36
53
Perry L. Williams
Fame
He went through life and traveled far and reached to grasp some distant star that promised to bring wealth and fame a world that knew his face and name.
Truth, Lies & Otherwise
FC 11 R-24
37
Carl "Skinny" Rowland
Fate
One day I met this rider, on an old worn out by mare,
Where Shadows Are Born
FC 11 B-73
39
Henry Real Bird
values
It's just that the wind blows and drives me crazy it's just that when the wind blows it drive me crazy so many lives I could've lived but this is what I chose
taxation, civilization, boss, spiled horses
Charlie Goodnight: His Life in Poetry & Song
FC 11 G-24
31
Andy Wilkinson
Haley Taking Notes
The Old Man's arm in circles spun; As if his stories, once begun.
A Cowful of Cowboy Poetry
FC 11 B-43
104
Baxter Black
Bailin' Wheat
Glen said J.T. liked old pickups, too.
Dry Crik Review: Summer 1992
John C. Dofflemyer
FC 11 D-20
40
Peggy Godfrey
My Neighbor, Vogal
Vogal is my neighbor he's nearly twice my age I heard when he'z a young man he drew a cowboy's wage. I can see he's might puzzled
ranch, wedding vows, frozen days, station, pickups
The Humbler Poets: A Collection of Newspaper and Periodical Verse, 1870-1885
Slason Thompson
FC 11 T-04
57
Rev. W.S. McFetridge
Creeping Up the Stairs
In the soft falling twilight
Songs of the American West
Richard E. Lingenfelter, Richard A. Dwyer and David Cohen
FC 11 L-10
446
Home on the Range
Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam.
Buckaroo Ballads
FC 11 B-04
69
S. Omar Barker
Mariposa Mesa
There's a high green mesa where the mariposa blooms; An' it ain't far up to the sky, Where the wind's a purrin' pussy an' the wild grouse throoms, An' the bunch grass grows thigh-high.
grazing, grass, bunchgrass, love, in love, girlfriend, flowers
After the Chisholm
FC 11 R-45
136
George Rhoades
Little Coffins, Little Graves
Little coffins, little graves; Tiny girl with auburn hair Asking Santa for a pretty hat, A bright ribbon to fasten there. Boy learning to ride a horse, Playing catch with Dad;
fireman, painter, school, joyful
The Columbine Remembers
Anna Bowie May
FC 11 M-26
66
Anna May
Neglect or Care
A little neglect here, and a little neglect there
Dry Crik Review (Environmental Issue): Fall 1991
John C. Dofflemyer
FC 11 D-20
24
Buck Ramsey
Conservation
We've never owned a blade of grass (and, really, nor have you), nor held the title to a cow, but we've herded quite a few.
money, mystery, rules, ambiguity
Cowboy Poetry: Classic Rhymes by Bruce Kiskaddon (1878-1950)
Mason and Janice Coggin
FC 11 K-21
84
Bruce Kiskaddon
Hoof Beats
In the song of the West, each tune and word, Should be set to the tread of the pony herd.
Cowboy Poetry: The Campfire Ain't Quite Out
Kent Stockton
FC 11 S-59
151
Kent Stockton
Just A Horse
It must have been that green hay that caused his gut to torse
For Bomber
The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses
FC 11 P-16
170
Banjo Paterson
On The Trek