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
Buckaroo Ballads
FC 11 B-04
105
S. Omar Barker
The Old-Timer Talks of Retiring
Oh, I'd like to settle down in some little frontier town.
retirement, memories, aging, past
Cowboy Poetry: Classic Rhymes by S. Omar Barker (1894-1985)
Jodie and Bob Phillips
FC 11 B-44
145
S. Omar Barker
Power in the pot
Of all the coffee drinkers that the world has ever knew, There never was no one could beat the old time buckaroo.
Western Poems
FC 11 R-02
33
Col. Charles D. Randolph "Buckskin Bill"
The Open Range
The open range is gone now.
Fair Girls and Gray Horses
FC 11 O-12
237
Will H. Ogilvie
The Graves Out West
If the lonely graves are scattered in that fenceless vast God's Acre, If no church bells chime across them, and no mourners tread between - Yet the souls of those sound sleepers go as swiftly to their Maker,
Rawhide Rhymes
FC 11 B-05
73
S. Omar Barker
One or the Other
The man who brags that he never got throwed.
boaster, blowhard, bragger, blower, tenderfoot, liar, disliked behavior objection, aversion
Drover Diaries: Original Poems of the American Cowboy
FC 11 N-14
134
Rod Nichols
Tipperary (Belle Fourche, S.D., 1920)
Twas a sunny day out Belle Fourche way for the Roundup Rodeo. From across the State came small and great for that South Dakota show.
Rawhide Rhymes
FC 11 B-05
108
S. Omar Barker
Rangeland Smellin'
Now scent is more important on the range than you might think.
smells, animals, horses, cows, cowboys, stink, instinct, smell water, longhorn ,beeline, smell a storm, ability, coyotes, howl, smell of blood, bawl, death, smell the wind, danger, smell danger, smell sheep, fragrance of freedom, western breeze, city smells, sense of smell, freight-train, western hay, sagebrush, smell of sage, homesick, longing for the west, nature
Rimrock and Juniper
FC 11 K-31
47
E.J. Kirchoff
No Slicker
From here on top of Table Rock ten miles in to camp. From way the clouds are buildin' up just guess we'll sure get damp. Now maybe that's just puttin' it in words that's really mild.
Poems 'n' Things
FC 11 H-18
35
Fred Hardy
A Cowboy's Life
Yes, for forty years I've been a cowboy a ridin on the range.
life, occupation, job, work, cowboying, appreciation
The Cowboy Sings: Traditional Songs of the Western Frontier
Kenneth S. Clark
FC 11 C-33
26
Days of Forty-Nine
You are gazing now at old Tom Moore, A relic of by-gone days.
American Cowboy Songs
Robbins Music Corporation
FC 11 A-02
68
The Cowboy's Dream
Last night as I lay on the prairie, and look'd at the stars in the sky.
roll on, doggies, Boss of the Riders
Vientos de las Sierras (Winds of the Mountains): Poems of New Mexico
FC 11 B-07
26
S. Omar Barker
A Measure for Man
I hear folks measure up their friends.
good, bad, vices, brotherhood, friendship, love, judgment, gossip, happiness
Poems of American Cowboys & Nature
FC 11 C-04
14
Bob A. Carson
A Cowboy's Prayer
Oh Lord, I've never lived where angels grow.
belief, God, prayer
Sittin' and A-Grinnin': A Collection of Works
Layle Bagley & Linda Merrill
FC 11 B-11
151
Lyle Bagley
39 Cent Chicken
Most things are hard to remember, I almost always forget.
Write 'Em Cowboy
FC 11 G-43
36
Peggy Godfrey
Perfect Wife
George and I been thinin' 'bout tryin' to find a wife a sweet and gentle martyr who'd like the ranchin' life. Ya know, someone to stay at home to mop the floors and dust tidy up around the house and never show disgust. Not he horse-back ridin' sort
Songs and Poems of the Old West by an Old Cowboy
FC 11 S-12
7
James H. Stevenson
The Range
Long years ago we rode the range
Scattered, Lasting Remnants: "Fine Lines" of Poetry and Song
Echo Klaproth
FC 11 K-25
16
Baxter Black
Lightning cracked across the sky like veins on the back of your hand. (from "Range Fire"). All worldly riches and tributes of men can't hold a candle to the world of a friend. (from "Take Care of Your Friends").
Sky Humour
Sid Marty
FOLK COLL 11 M-68
92
Sid Marty
So Much Outlives Us
So much outlives us: This photograph, this ring That rake out there, grown over with grass Your wallet with its plastic cards the dog tags of the middle class
history, gifts, memory
Trail Dust of a Maverick
FC 11 B-15
223
E.A. Brininstool
The Call of the Range
Nothin' but man-made canyons.
city, mortar, steel, brick, fast pace, smog, cement, pavement, rush, bustle, homesick
Poetic Works of Henry Lawson
David McKee Wright
FC 11 L-24
23
Henry Lawson
Jack Dun of Never tire
It chanced upon the very day we'd got the shearing done.
Cowboy Poetry: Cloud Watchers
FC 11 F-16
220
Rolf M. Flake
Not A Tree In Sight
"I think that I shall never see..." (A REAL poet penned these lines) "A poem lovely as a tree..." (They make a lot more sense than mine). The CEDAR TREE is oft despised By "tree lovers" as a group-- Even called a Cedar bush by some Who do not care how low they stoop.
West River Waltz: Western Poetry
FC 11 G-31
127
D. W. Groethe
Hard, Wild and Free
Mustang, mustang run your course
Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip
FOLK COLL 11 N-18
99
Rod Nelson
The older I get the more I become like my father
When I was a kid and my dad was old - you know, younger than I am now, but old - it always frustrated me when I would ask him what he wanted for Christmas.
simple, list, christmas
Wyoming's Rancher Poet: Timothy Mahoney
Tim Nicholas
FC 11 M-01
41
Timothy Mahoney
A Cowpoke's Dream
Oh! Give me a "spread" in the heart of Wyoming.
I Ain't No Dude
FC 11 G-19
51
Lloyd M. Gerber
How Long Has it Been
Dear Floyd, twin, brother and friend; Since last I saw you, how long has it been.