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
Horseshoes, Cowsocks & Duckfeet
FC 11 B-47
138
Baxter Black
A Pond Runs Through It
Barbed Wire and Other Poems
FC 11 P-04
4
Edwin Ford Piper
Once on a Time
Once on a time the plain with breeze and sun, On wild brown herds a-grazing
trails, past, buffalo
Ride The Silence
FC 11 H-58
20
Linda Hussa
The Midnight Check
Even when it's not cold the night air meets your face with freshness and it's yours for shedding warmth of kit and cover and dreamy sleep. You slip in slender walking
habit, step, dark, crest
Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads
John A. Lomax
FC 11 L-12
72
Metis Song of the Buffalo Herders
Hurrah for the buffalo hunters!
Cowboy Odes
FC 11 M-42
3
Rusty Meador
The Man
Berry Binion is the man,/ Let me tell you boys about this ol' top hand
May Darkness Restore
Sean Sexton
FOLK COLL 11 S-74
15
Sean Sexton
Resurrection Fern
In firewood piled two seasons deep, tendrils emerge like Christ, transcending death upon a tree.
trees, forest, death
Poetic Works of Henry Lawson
David McKee Wright
FC 11 L-24
60
Henry Lawson
Written Afterwards
So the days of my writing are over.
Bell Ranch Glimpses
FC 11 E-01
32
Martha Downer Ellis
At Zorra Wagon Camp
Standing on top of the station wagon, I was.
picture, photograph
Jesse Rogers' Song Collection and Souvenir from Old Mexico
Jesse Rogers
FC 11 R-32
7
The Gay Caballero
I am a gay caballero, traveling from Rio Janeiro
Brushstrokes & Balladeers: Painters and Poets of the American West
C.J. Hadley
FC 11 H-60
101
Patty Barnhart
Turquoise
When I am an old horsewoman I shall wear turquoise and diamonds, and a straw hat that doesn't suit me. and I shall spend my social security on white wine
jewel, smile, midnight, patient
Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas
Jim Hoy
FOLK COLL 11 H-62
22
Harold Carpenter
Cowboys Through the Ages
When ancient man domesticated the cow, For milk and meat and to pull the plow, Tending the critters was chore of the younger lads, So they were the original "COW" boys for their Dads.
history, change, cowboy
Country Feelings: A Collection of Poems
FC 11 G-14
2
Gordon Green
Childhood
Simple days of long ago.
child, children, boy, teacher, school, past, history
Cowboy Poetry: Tracks That Won't Blow Out
FC 11 O-10
16
Ray Owens
Color Blind
We were sittin', tlakin' horses; my old friend and I that day Enjoyin' one another's comp'ny an' just passin time away
Voices From the Range
FC 11 S-34
22
Rhoda Sivell
The Outlaw
Just a cowboy outlaw, hunted like a thief, Came he to my ranch door, asking for relief. How well I remember on a summer's day, Just a cowboy outlaw I could give away. Just a cowboy outlaw with a boyish face, Dark eyes flashing fearlessly, and such reckless grace; Asking me for shelter, but I knew just them, Up the river yonder were six mounted men.
From the Pages of Her Heart
FC 11 M-28
31
Frances May Dorr Wheeler
For Helen and Clyde (When they moved to Oregon)
They don't make boxes big enough to show how much we care.
Ruby Mountain Rhymes
FC 11 W-09
68
Jack Walther
Feed Salesman
My calves weighed 500 pounds. To me that seemed good.
Somewhere in the West: Texas Women Who Left a Legacy
FC 11 K-22
81
Zinita Fowler
La Llorona
Don't go down to the river, child, Don't go down there alone.
On the Edge of Common Sense
FC 11 B-12
52
Baxter Black
The Mechanical Cowboy
A ringy ol' cow can make me so mad.
anger, slipping clutch, mechanical things, nagging wife, annoying twitch, jacks, bolts, Phillips screwdriver, sprockets, tire, change a tire, baler, auger, motors, electrical breakers, clippers, wheel, wrench, clumsy, Adam of Olde, struggle, fighting technology
Muddled Meanderings in an Outhouse Number 2
FC 11 R-12
21
Bob Ross
The Streaker of Haste Makes Waste
He lost the race on defaults
Confessions of a cowboy poet: The complete works of Bob Christensen, to date (in
FC 11 C-52
7
Bob Christensen
The feed order
Hello? Yes sir we sell feed. Sure we'll make the kind you need.
Saddle Talk
FC 11 B-08
44
Owen J. Barton
Shipping Time
In the Fall comes shipping time.
autumn, market, cattle, roundup, round up, clothing, cold, dress, weather, north wind, chill, storm, cutting cattle, bulls, stray, herd, truck, canyon, corral, milling, cows, calves, buyers, buyer, money, bills to pay, steak, meat, barbecue, chops
Cowboy Poetry: Classic Rhymes by Bruce Kiskaddon (1878-1950)
Mason and Janice Coggin
FC 11 K-21
75
Bruce Kiskaddon
Graves by the Side of the Trail
When the trail herds came through; And the wagon trains too.
Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip
FOLK COLL 11 N-18
11
Rod Nelson
A personal art collection to be proud of
Times are tough here at Sims but at least we have a great art collection. It's nice to look around the house and see all the nice paintings and drawings.
art, folk, larue, music
Graining the Mare: The Poetry of Ranch Women
Teresa Jordan
FC 11 J-10
113
Gwen Petersen
A Tall Bush
A cowgirl has a heap of fun; A ridin' for the brand.
Poetry of Ranch Women
The Mystique Of Grouse Creek
FC 11 S-64
9
Elden K. Shaw
The Fire!
Awakened in the middle of the night, With words that caused an awful fright, Came his grandson's words most dire, "Grandpa, our house has caught on fire".