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
Trail Dust
FC 11 K-32
70
E.J. Kirchoff
A Plumb Bad Horse
"This feller had a pony that he tho't was sure a beaut. The only thing I figgered he's be good for was to shoot. "For baitin' of kioties only thing he's be of worth. He said, 'Now that's unthinkable.
Poetic Works of Henry Lawson
David McKee Wright
FC 11 L-24
206
Henry Lawson
Mary Called Him Mister
They'd parted just a year ago -- she thought he'd never come back.
From a Cowboy's Point of View
FC 11 H-52
47
Dick Hays
The Drunkard
Floppy hat and tattered clothes, Fruit jar track around the nose, Firey red, bewhsikered face, And glassy eyes gaze off in space,
One Hundred Poems
Waddie Mitchell
FOLK COLL 11 M-73
208
Waddie Mitchell
Little Bull
My story is of three bulls All different bovine breeds Who were travelin' the desert together In search of a little feed
bull, pasture, story
Sagebrush, Saddles and Spurs
FC 11 T-19
48
Hamilton Teichert
My Spurs
Spurs a hangin' on the wall In the old tack room Between my saddle and the stable broom.
The Big Roundup: Classic and Contemporary Poetry from CowboyPoetry.com
Margo Metegrano
FC 11 M-47
241
Louise K. Dean
Just a Dance
I saw him at local dance in an outback country place.
Scattered, Lasting Remnants: "Fine Lines" of Poetry and Song
Echo Klaproth
FC 11 K-25
103
Margaret Wilhelm
Another year will bring better days; pray for rain and look to the bright side-- bumpy roads always makr cowboy ways. (from "Sellin' Cattle"). He speaks fluent angus and his canine is fair but when he tries to speak wife, he's clearly impaired. (from "Men's Minds").
Collection of Wyoming Poetry: Seven Hundred Miles from The Pecos River
FC 11 B-27
2
Tina Burke
The Love Of My Life
I know I've promised to stand by your side.
mean cow, hit by a cow, escape, being chased, argue, disagreement, fear,
Riders of the Stars
FC 11 K-05
74
Henry Herbert Knibbs
The Trail-Makers
North and west along the coast among the misty islands.
Alaska, ice, cold, freeze, famine, gold, death, dreams
Poetic Works of Henry Lawson
David McKee Wright
FC 11 L-24
32
Henry Lawson
One-Hundred-and-Three
With the frame of a man and the face of a boy.
Rhymes From a Round-Up Camp
FC 11 C-49
103
Wallace David Coburn
Yellowstone Pete's Only Daughter
Yes, this is the Milk River Valley, And that's the old ranch that you see,
Burnt Leather
FC 11 H-16
94
Jack Horan
Bucking Head Winds
See that article, by Rogers.
Will Rogers, airplane, headwinds, bucking
Rhymes from the Rangeland
FC 11 B-09
68
Wesley Beggs
That Old Sheepherder Man
I want to tell you where I've been.
range, sheep, herd, herders, dog, sheepdog, sheepmen
Cowboys, Cattle, Horses, and Stuff
FC 11 B-65
56
T.L. Bush
A bunch of cowboys were down in Florida for a rodeo when one of them got the idea to go deep sea fishing.
On the Edge of Common Sense
FC 11 B-12
135
Baxter Black
The Patented Heifer Paralyzing Device - not a poem
Confessions of A Cowboy Poet
FC 11 C-52
118
Bob Christensen
Reality
Did you ever take the water on a clear and starry night when the moon was just a sliver and didn't throw much light? Did you stretch out on the ditch bank while you waited for the stream and watch the stars a twinklin' as you fought the urge
The Columbine Remembers
Anna Bowie May
FC 11 M-26
46
Frances May
Corner of Heaven
Give me a corner of Heaven, Dear Lord
Heaven on Horseback
Austin and Alta Fife
FC 11 F-13
55
Good-bye to the Plains
Good-bye to the pals of the prairie.
West Word Ho! The western poetry of Doris Daley
FC 11 D-23
28
Doris Daley
The Answering Machine
Thank you for calling Hayseed Ranch. We'll be with you sooner or later. So please stay on the line For the next available operator.
Poems from the Alamo Saloon
FOLK COLL 11 L-45
201
Paul Thomas Lillard
The Wise Man
There was once a very wise man who lived in Persia now called Iran.
wisdom, ancient, creation, science
Poetry of Skinny Rowland, Complete Works to 1993
Skinny Rowland
FOLK COLL 11 R-49
57
Skinny Rowland
Real Cowboys
Now you sure ain't no cowpoke dude, from way out in the west, I sure don't see no big quitar, or sequins on your vest.
cowboy, fashion, wealth
Bunkhouse Tales of Wild Hoss Charley
FC 11 L-37
52
Fred Lambert
That Dog-Gasted Saxophone
We were playing penny ante At the Cross-Bar Lazy B, When the foreman, Wild Hoss Charley, Deat a par of kings to me:
Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas
Jim Hoy
FOLK COLL 11 H-62
136
Jerry Wright
Winter's Redemption
Windswept swales Of virgin white So picturesque, pristine, Breed contempt and curse As I catch up The Buckskin.
winter, joy, cold, family
Where Cattle Roam
FC 11 S-15
27
Al Summers
Up and Runnin'
The herd is up and on their feet,
Poetic Works of Henry Lawson
David McKee Wright
FC 11 L-24
113
Henry Lawson
The Captains
The Captains sailed from Portugal, from England, France and Spain.