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
A Cowboy's Forty Years of Gathering
FC 11 D-03
28
Chet Dawson
It Wasn't Cricket
We had an Englishman one time.
Englishman, tenderfoot, Bitter Root, tease, greenhorn, initiation, gun fire
A Cowboy on the Last Frontier
FC 11 M-24
Bill May
Cowdreams and Sourdough Sentiments
FC 11 G-22
13
Steve Gehring
Rednecks
Rednecks got their name from workin' out in the hot sun.
Reflections of the West: Cowboy painters and poets
C.J. Hadley
FC 11 H-59
129
S. Omar Barker
One or the Other
The man who brags that he never got throwed ain't one we much admire. He's either, as cowpokes long have knowed,
tenderfoot, liar, canyon
Write 'Em Cowboy
FC 11 G-43
44
Peggy Godfrey
I Tried
Seven barely-yearlin' bulls was chasin' Punkin 'round she didn't "take" on her second calf I'd have to haul her to town. Ralph and Vogal worried 'bout ol' Punkin' sorry plight she'd stand chin-deep in a muddy ditch watchin' the earlin' fight.
The Last Roundup
FC 11 B-61
27
Wilbur P. Ball
Chalk Bluffs Roundup
Prose: A small two-day roundup was held during the early summer of 1905 in the Chalk Bluffs area that ended at the Steve McCoy Ranch.
Fenced Trails
FC 11 B-24
18
Bruce Brockett
If
If you never suffered hunger from early morn till late at night.
occupational lore, occupation
Poems Mostly Cowboy
FC 11 N-16
17
Dick Nichols
I'll Miss That Old Tree
I walked today in the forest To enjoy the sights and the sound When a tree I'd walked past for years Came suddenly crashing down
One Hundred Poems
Waddie Mitchell
FOLK COLL 11 M-73
39
Waddie Mitchell
Lid
If there's ever been a character it seems the whole world knows I would guess it'd be the cowboy by the style of his clothes Cuz his toggin's are some different than the man out on the street From his neck rag to his leggin's to the boots upon his feet But what makes him most distinctive, sits up high above all that Toppin' off his rangeland uniform, there sits the cowboy's hat
clothing, lifestyle, hat
Gene Autry's Collection of Juke Box, Radio and Movie Hits
Western Music Publishing Company
FC 11B NO. 32
Gene Autry and Johnny Marvin
Muses Of The Ranges
FC 11 D-28
67
John C. Dofflemyer
The Difference
A cowboy tends to figger things in terms he understands, and the more he learns, the less he know, as his mind expands; ain't nothin' certain in this life,
guarantees, business, soul, money
From a Cowboy's Point of View
FC 11 H-52
122
Dick Hays
The Recruiting Officer
There's lots of talk around the bunk When our day is done, As to what the boys are going to hunt When the war is won. Some talk of deer and elk and moose,
Treasure Chest of Cowboy Songs
FC 11 T-08
6
The Old Chisolm Trail
Well, come along, boys, and listen to my tale I'll
Dry Creek Rhymes
FC 11 D-11
14
John Cutler Dofflemyer
singin'
only cowboy hafta sing alone.
Blood Sister, I Am To These Fields
FC 11 H-56
114
Linda Hussa
This Land Is Mine But This Land Is Not Mine
Own the land. Walk the boundary. Stack stones. Stake it out. Mine - the footprints speak. Mine.
mine, land, skin, blood
Bell-Bottoms to Boots
FC 11 W-07
29
Joe "Blackie" Wilson
My Normangee
It may have been the redbird singing in a tree
Maverick Western Verse
John C. Dofflemyer
FC 11 D-09
162
Paul Zarzyski
Flamenca Duende
Not just any hot Latin blood, but the fiery blood of Maria Benitez..
Cowboy Poetry: Classic Rhymes by S. Omar Barker (1894-1985)
Jodie and Bob Phillips
FC 11 B-44
171
S. Omar Barker
One or the Other
The man who brags that he never got throwed; Ain't one we much admire.
Tangled Up In The West
FC 11 H-50
34
David Haskell
Bachelor Jon
He is a man with morals and integrity, He has never drank a "lite" beer in his life!
Songs of the Cattle Trail and Cow Camp
John A. Lomax
FC 11 L-13
76
The Cowboy's Valentine
Say, Moll, now don't you 'llow to quit.
Pardners
FC 11 C-18
32
Jo Casteel
Showered with Gifts
When we were a courtin'.
courting, gifts, love, courtship
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.
Poems of a Desert Cowboy
FC 11 B-30
18
Rob Blair
Cowboy
The sun's not up, but it's time to roll out, Chuck is on the table, get it or do without.
Rhymes of the Ranges
FC 11 K-04
15
Bruce Kiskaddon
Ants in His Pants
From the way this here old cowboy is takin' off his pants.
cowboy, insect, red ants, levis
Whiff of the West
FC 11 W-06
62
Milo Wiltbank
Neighbor
Yesterday I lost my friend, my neighbor,
In memory of Dick Slade.