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
Sittin' and A-Grinnin': A Collection of Works
Layle Bagley & Linda Merrill
FC 11 B-11
215
Linda Merrill
Sandcastles
When I was a kid I'd play in the park, And if I could I'd stay until dark.
Hung out to dry
FC 11 D-22
23
John C. Dofflemyer
Feeding the squirrels
Feeding ground squirrels to ravens and buzzards with a .22 rifle
Poems from the Alamo Saloon
FOLK COLL 11 L-45
135
Paul Thomas Lillard
Mama's Baking Day
I remember back when Mama would bake blueberry muffins or maybe a cake.
bake, bowl, lick, muffins
Cheyenne Line and other poems
FC 11 B-57
79
J. V. Brummels
Dad man's hand revisited
All week another weather's been forecast.
Songs of the Workaday World
FC 11 B-54
100
Berton Braley
The Thrall of the Golden Gate
It's mighty far to Frisco town, Where streets run steeply up and down,
Cowboyology: The Science Of
FC 11 B-03
26
Dan Bradshaw
Ya Just Gotta Let 'Em Buck
Just sittin' on the top rail fence; He watching the buckin' show.
Buddy Ballads: Songs of the A.E.F. (1919)
FC 11 B-42
31
Berton Braley
A.W.O.L.
A.W.O.L. -- yes, Bud, that's me! Six months up front; some long hard spell couldn't get no leave, so you can ses why I just went A.W.O.L.
Still Rhymin' on the Range
Mike Puhallo, Wendy Liddle & Brian Brannon
FC 11 P-25
58
Sharlene Rose Puhallo
A Clean Getaway
When I catch that rustler.
Songs of the Cattle Trail and Cow Camp
John A. Lomax
FC 11 L-13
131
A Cowboy Race
A pattering rush like the rattle of hail.
Cowboy Poetry: Turning to Face the Wind
FC 11 M-50
209
Jane Ambrose Morton
Mom Thought She Married a Teacher
Cattails & Other Poems
FC 11 D-27
9
John C. Dofflemyer
Cattails
Bobcat, bored with squirrel meat & Valley Quail, watched Great Bear snag Salmon in the cobbled rapids below
taste, hunt, fish, investigate, cutbank
Canyon of the Forgotten
FC 11 B-60
62
Virginia Bennett
Miraculous Moment
They can write all the books that they want to, they can shoot pictures 'til they're blue in the face. They can paint with all colors of the rainbow, or spout poetry with passion and grace.
Rawhide Rhymes
FC 11 B-05
79
S. Omar Barker
Rule for Ridin'
The best way to stay on a bronc ain't no riddle.
advice, lesson, riding, clear mind, rules
After the Chisholm
FC 11 R-45
44
George Rhoades
No-Tech Cowboy
The old-timer grumbled and said, "I'm a no-tech cowboy In a high-tech world, And I sure don't enjoy "What they call progress; I don't Twitter, Bing or Yahoo,
Google, Skype, Facebook, iPhone
Cowboy Poultry Gatherin'
FOLK COLL 11 A-23
30
Darrell Arnold
Tom Tobin and The Espinozas
It was out in Colorado, back in 1863, When the Espinoza brothers went out on a killing spree. For six long months they spread their reign of terror o'er the land, And nobody could stop the murderin' Mexican outlaw band.
murder, mexican, gringo, bounty
Pocket Full of Rhyme
FC 11 M-35
10
J. Morgan
The Camp'n Spree
Was early 30's in a homemade tent
camping
Best Loved Poems of the American West
John J. and Barbara T. Gregg
FC 11 G-09
296
John Gould Fletcher
Mexican Quarter
By an alley lined with tumble-down shacks.
gutters, dirt, filth, stars, beautiful woman, Madonna's image, flowers, Juan, love, longing, guitar, fate, youth, age, Babylon, Samark and
Best Loved Poems of the American West
John J. and Barbara T. Gregg
FC 11 G-09
138
Anna Blake Mezquida
Chinatown
A bit of East within a Chinese wall.
Asian mysteries, exotic, Lao Tzu, Tu Fu, Ming Huang, Manchu temple, Chinese food, jewels, Confucius, Buddha, action, playhouse
Cowboys, Plowboys, and Country Folk
FC 11 R-39
39
Roger Ringer
When a Cowboy Hits Forty
When a cowboy hits forty things seem a bit strange. Seems that things that were, were and now everything seems changed.
Rattle
Alan Fox
FC 11 R-36
128
Luke Shuttleworth
Showdown
Sunday afternoon dust devils chase my horse down a trail
Cowboy Stuff: Some of the Poems by Jody Sixkiller
FC 11 W-16
35
Jody Sixkiller Whitlock
Slim's Saturday Night
Slim had a vision of wonderful things.
Rhymes From a Round-Up Camp
FC 11 C-49
48
Wallace David Coburn
Human Discontent
'Twas stifling hot, in the month of May, And all the people had much to say
All This Way for the Short Ride
FC 11 Z-02
81
Paul Zarzyski
A Wild-'n'-Woolly Western Episode from Rodeo Rider Afterlife in the Erroneous, Erogenous Twilight Zone
Middle-aged and still 6-acres-crazy-18.
Poet Lariat
FC 11 S-22
9
Gene Skaug
The Outhouse
When he got the urge
Sittin' and A-Grinnin': A Collection of Works
Layle Bagley & Linda Merrill
FC 11 B-11
167
Ellie Corrigan
Gunpowder and Calico
Gunpowder and Calico; Of pioneer cloth were torn.