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
Rhymes o' a Driftin' Cowboy
FC 11 H-01
29
Chuck Haas
I'm Haid fer Arizona
I'm haid fer Arizona! Boys! Soon I'll split th' breeze.
home, friendship, crowds, range
The Ranch: Poems of the West
FC 11 L-09
100
Elliott C. Lincoln
Loss
Just for a fragment of morning we two were together.
hills, friendly banter, love
Thinking Back
FC 11 J-19
11
Billy James
The Slop Bucket
Phew! It smelled to me just like some skunk had sprayed a bear; But Mama looked right straight ahead, just like it wasn't there. And we all wondered just what she had put beneath that lid
Echoes of the West
FC 11 C-24
11
Idabell Corbett Cramer
Greetings from Wyoming
Greetings from Wyoming where skies are wide and blue.
nature, animals, plants, beauty, seasons
Best Loved Poems of the American West
John J. and Barbara T. Gregg
FC 11 G-09
468
Charles F. Lummis
The Sidewinder
A lazy loop of lozenged gray.
greasewood, heat, sleep, mortal joys
Songs of the American West
Richard E. Lingenfelter, Richard A. Dwyer and David Cohen
FC 11 L-10
111
Barney Riley
San Juan
I located a claim in Creede.
mining, Rio Grande, Navajo
Scattered, Lasting Remnants: "Fine Lines" of Poetry and Song
Echo Klaproth
FC 11 K-25
61
Georgie Sicking
When shoeing a horse, don't leave the shoes long, or you might not live to find you was wrong. (from "A Few Cowboy Rules"). It was sometimes kind of awkward for a girl or nine or ten-- to be the only cowgirl among a bunch of men. (from "Jake").
Rhymes of a Rolling Stone
FC 11 S-63
83
Robert Service
Death In The Arctic VII
Often I start up in the dark, Thinking the sound of bells to hear. Often I wake from sleep "Oh, hark! Help...it is coming...near and near." Blindly I reel toward the door; There the snow billows bleak and bare; Blindly I seek my den once more, Silence and darkness and despair.
Back at the Ranch
FC 11 S-29
87
Colen H. Sweeten Jr.
Windin' Down
He's really not so very old
The Poetry of 'Breaker' Morant
FC 11 M-58
57
Harry 'Breaker' Harbord Morant
Envoi
When the last rousing gallop is ended, And the last post-and-rail has been jumped, And a cracked neck that cannot be mended Shall have under the yew-tree been "dumped".
First Roundup: Western Ballads
FOLK COLL 11 J-25
24
Dee Strickland Johnson
Fredonia
I saddle up one afternoon, and happily I hum the tune of some old plaintive cowboy song.
horse, freedom, travel
The Stampede and Other Tales of the Far West
FC 11 L-05
37
"Powder River" Jack H. Lee
On the River of No Return
In the lava beds below the peaks, to the south of the Bitter Roots.
The Code Of The West - Then, Now, Forever -
FC 11 B-68
25
Don Bishop
The Tradition
Some folks just don't get it. They think owning horses makes no sense. It takes too much time, too much equipment, Not to mention the expense.
Cowman's Wife
FOLK COLL 11 J-24
30
Dee Strickland Johnson
The Roan and The Pontiac
I met Miss Betsy at a dance; her eyes were big and blue, I swung her every chance I got- but the drummer swung her too. He said, "I'll Miss Betsy home. It's rainin', so of course, I'll take her in my Pontiac; you've only got a horse."
city, country, wedding, flat
Dry Crik Review (Elko Commemorative Double Issue): winter/spring 1994, 2 copies
John C. Dofflemyer
FC 11 D-20
54
Andy Wilkinson
There Will Be Others
There will be others after you, If you require it; If you demand that ends be ends; If you are certain Forever is a poet's word And we're not poets;
"Cowboy'en Is Our Specialty"
FC 11 C-58
20
Wade Collins and Seven Mazzone
Women
Now this is a touchy subject, One better left alone. Because women control all us men, A thought that chills us to the bone.
After the Chisholm
FC 11 R-45
13
George Rhoades
Comin' Home
Sold the calves at the Comanche sale; Down off the ridge, Pullin' the rusty empty trailer Across Beaver bridge. Past the cattle guard, wired-up gate,
diamond, shelter, weather, far
Where Prairie Flowers Bloom And Other Poems
FC 11 H-33
92
Yvonne Hollenbeck
The Little Red Geranium
The church that day was crowded.
service, flowers, pastor, God, plants, red, wartime
Sawdust & Shavin's
FC 11 S-11
42
Shep Smith
B.S. Bulletin No. 33 or The Professional Politician
He's the smoothest operator and the brainiest commentator.
Cowboy Poetry: The Gathering
FC 11 W-28
100
Michael Whitaker
The Ghost
I've told this story but to very few.
Muddled Meanderings in an Outhouse
FC 11 R-11
29
Bob Ross
Keen Competition
When small boys tire of soldiers and fort
The Open Mic
FC 11 C-37
39
T. Shannon Crawford
Kaci
The very first time that I saw Kaci, She wore a dress all ruffled and lacy.
Remuda Dust
FC 11 E-11
71
Fred Engel
Our Community
Just a few short miles from town.
Thoughts in Rhyme: Volume II
FC 11 M-10
43
E.W. "Roy" Miller
An Urgent Plea
Listen my Friend, who ever you are.
Cowboy Curmudgeon and Other Poems
FC 11 M-45
71
Wallace McRae
Give Us a Song, Ian Tyson
Write me a tune, Ian Tyson.