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
Wild Prairie Roses: A Collection of Verse by North Dakotans
Shirley J. Mikkelson
FC 11 M-11
56
Ethel E. McIlwain
I Shall Not Go Again
I went back to the old farm today
change, home, family, memories, past
Poems from the Alamo Saloon
FOLK COLL 11 L-45
237
Paul Thomas Lillard
Rarity
You'll never see a mermaid with legs or a rooster layin' eggs, a bull givin' milk an elephant fly or a politician who wouldn't lie.
impossible, rare, spectacle
Rhymes o' a Driftin' Cowboy
FC 11 H-01
35
Chuck Haas
Injin Summer
Howdy stranger? Purty weather?
autumn, fall, winter, seasons, October
Sun and Saddle Leather
FC 11 C-12
103
Charles Badger Clark
On Boot Hill
Up from the prairie and through the pines.
Boot Hill, dead, maverick, death
Famous Cowboy and Mountain Ballads
FC 11 F-23
29
Grifters under the skin
There's the girl who is pretty and sweet, and the girl who is nifty and neat
Rhymes o' a Driftin' Cowboy
FC 11 H-01
131
Chuck Haas
Hap'
Our ol' bunkhouse ain't th' same.
sheriff, outlaw, arrest
Frivolous Cowboy Poetry
FC 11 M-49
38
Al Marquis
Breeding Horses
Sister Chris grew up, and had a little girl.
ride
Some Stuff I've Learnt And Other Stuff
FC 11 H-61
176
Greg Harwood
Holiday Spirit (Not)
I went Christmas shoppin'
75 Years! My Time In Rhyme
FC 11 M-65
41
E.W. "Roy" Miller
A Friend In Need, Is A Friend Indeed!
In the winter of 1996 while looking for a double-wide we drove past hank Richardson's down the road on their north side, They had a great arena with lights to rope at night but the home we went to look at just didn't suit us right.
Echoes Of The Dawn
FC 11 B-63
28
Belvina W. Bertino
Christmas Eve
Strange peaceful calm filled all the air That night long years ago, When shepherds watched the heavenly stars And saw an angel-glow.
Poems of a Desert Cowboy
FC 11 B-30
10
Rob Blair
True Love
There's a woman, do you know her?
Remuda Dust
FC 11 E-11
43
Fred Engel
Never Too Old
"I doubt if I'll marry again."
Pat Richardson, Unhobbled
FOLK COLL 11 R-50
45
Pat Richardson
Bill's Dog
He was in the wrong place most of the time, and his dog was nearly as bad;
dog, cattle, crazy
Sawdust & Shavin's
FC 11 S-11
9
Shep Smith
B.S. Bulletin No. 2 or Clyde Goes on Daylight saving "Shine"
Clyde blundered into the bathroom on morning.
Cowboy Poems from Mona Flatts
FC 11 R-28
36
Scott Redington
Conversation with a Dude Girl
A dude girl walked into a bar.
Rhymes o' a Driftin' Cowboy
FC 11 H-01
114
Chuck Haas
Right Now, Boy!
`Twas a long spell ago: Me an' Big Pete Bordo.
wife, woman, female, marriage, housekeeping, housework, home, servant, perfection
Extra 'n' Ordinary
FC 11 G-37
50
Peggy Godfrey
Cochetopa Musings
Joy is the penetrating fragrance of a newly-made candle Whose scent seems alive, permeating space and time Enlivened each time its wick is set on fire Joy is the sweet perfume of just-picked wild raspberries Begging to be tasted.
Frontier Ballads
FC 11 H-06
71
Joseph Mills Hanson
The Song of the Winchester
Full heir to the twist-bored yager gun with its half-inch slug.
gun, rifle
Cowboy Poetry: Classic Rhymes by Bruce Kiskaddon (1878-1950)
Mason and Janice Coggin
FC 11 K-21
189
Bruce Kiskaddon
Who Told the Biggest
One night a bunch of buckaroos; Were gathered 'round a fire.
Tracks in the sand: original cowboy poetry
FC 11 W-36
46
Perry L. Williams
My buddies
My dog he's got a waggy tail and big long floppy ears the way they hand there by his head I wonder how he hears?
Cowboy Poetry: Tracks That Won't Blow Out
FC 11 O-10
29
Ray Owens
Neighbor
There's more to bein' a neighbor than bein' "just htose folks over there" It takes a special person; one who's got a lotta care
Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas
Jim Hoy
FOLK COLL 11 H-62
19
Orange Scott Cummins, The Pilgrim Bard
The Cow Boy
Oh ye who know the cowboy not, Can never know his lonely lot; Lightning and cyclone, wind and rain, Will never make the boy complain;
cowboy, lifestyle
Texas Poems By A Texan
FC 11 S-62
29
D.A. Stewart
The Man That's Down and Out
It's possible for any man If he only has the funds To do the things he wants to do To educate his sons Or build a dam across the creek And irrigate his farm; Can build a home in modern style Of beauty and of charme.
Dry Crik Review: Summer 1992
John C. Dofflemyer
FC 11 D-20
60
Ruthie Clark
It's Time
Adolescent sweet gum models her new prom dress snowy blackberry blossoms promise sweet fruit kittens peek through half-opened eyes at a universe of feet a spangle-legged foal takes his first dance lesson
lullabies, dreams, illuminate, azaleas
A Cowful of Cowboy Poetry
FC 11 B-43
112
Baxter Black
Shoein' Pig eye
"Just count me out," said Wilford as he lay there in the dirt.