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
Humorous Cowboy Poety: A Knee Slappin Gathering
Dawn Valentine Hadlock and Madge Baird, editors
FC 11 H-42
105
Phil Kennington
Shotgun chaps
We was headin toward the home ranch, gatherin cattle every day
Shorty's Yarns: Western Stories and Poems of Bruce Kiskaddon
FC 11 K-28
102
Bill Siems, ed.
Shorty Hears Ike Analyse Words
There was four fellers a workin' at the place besides me and Ike. We had gathered the beed and shipped it.
Treasure Chest of Cowboy Songs
FC 11 T-08
20
My Love is a Rider
My love is a rider wild bronchos he breaks
Dry Crik Rview: Spring 1993
John C. Dofflemyer
FC 11 D-20
23
Ruth Daniels
City Cousin
In her twentieth summer she came to the farm for a visit. At ten I thought her as glamorous as any movie star. A slender girl, sparkling as a spring day, a cap of black hair cut in a wind-blown bob.
police force, sake, heaven, ice skating, promise
Bygone Days of the Old West
FC 11 L-01
252
Fred Lambert
A Ranchero of Mexico
Oh what if you were a mighty Ranchero -- With a million acres of land or so.
Unhobbled: Cowboy Poetry, Stories, and Outright Lies
FC 11 R-31
58
Pat Richardson
Geezer
"Originals"
FC 11 S-16
45
J.D. Santee
Spurs
Spurs that jingle when you walk down the street,
Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas
Jim Hoy
FOLK COLL 11 H-62
30
Author Unknown, 1880's
Ogalley Song
We left the Nueces River in April eighty-one With three thousand long-horned cattle, and all they knnowed was run.
cattle drive, difficulty
The Humbler Poets: A Collection of Newspaper and Periodical Verse, 1870-1885
Slason Thompson
FC 11 T-04
138
A Kiss in the Rain
One stormy morn I chanced to meet
Rhymes of the Range Land
FC 11 J-04
14
Bob Johnston
The Good Old Days
The folklorist keeps asking.
work, ranching, hardship, childhood, progress, modern
Rawhide Rhymes
FC 11 B-05
104
S. Omar Barker
Rawhide Sons
The old-time cowboy ridin' underneath the western sky.
hard work, low wages, sweat, swallow dust, broncos, busting broncos, long working days, cattle, responsibility, outfit, pride, boss, bossing, self-confidence, brand, Big Auger, freedom, independence, lasso, liberty, horseback man, energy, power, hog-skinning, work, play, fight, stubbornness, free-mindedness, outspokenness, western sky, frank, straightforward, direct, bronc busting
Meadow Muffins: Cowboy Rhymes and Other B.S.
FC 11 P-29
42
Mike Puhallo
Ode to McQueen Creek
It seemed a simple thing to me.
Rhymes of a Rancher
FC 11 G-13
82
E.A.L. Griffin
County Poor Farm
Three old derelicts cast on the county.
taxes, poverty, fate, care, welfare
Poems, Facts and Fiction
FC 11 O-03
98
Harold Otto
Charles Ed Leyds
Ed has gone up that trail that no man's footsetps can retrace.
Poems from Dry Creek
John Dofflemyer
FC 11 D-15
13
Obstacles
There are boulders even in dry creek beds, obstacles for water to flow around--make the sounds that soothe us so.
Hidden Trails
FC 11 C-21
35
Austin Corcoran
Come and Get It
The rain spatters hard on the sagebrush.
rain, storm, chuck, grub, food, foodways
Whiff of the West
FC 11 W-06
18
Milo Wiltbank
Marion Maxwell Fiddling Man
Tucked beneath his chin his fiddle,
Breezy Western Verse
FC 11 A-11
68
James Barton Adams
Coroner's Inquest at Squawville
Wasn't none of us denied it that we played a leadin' hand.
Cowgirl Poetry: One Hundred Years of Ridin' and Rhymin'
Virginia Bennett
FC 11 B-69
173
Jo Casteel
The Silence
I stopped atop a hill Just for a moment, Pake and me, And heard the muted silence Of the land that sets me free.
Breezy Western Verse
FC 11 A-11
97
James Barton Adams
In the Wooly West
There's health and vigor in the air.
life, inspiration, Christians, loyalty
Shorty's Yarns: Western Stories and Poems of Bruce Kiskaddon
FC 11 K-28
148
Bill Siems, ed.
Ike Gets a New Job
About a week after they had took Cap to town with a broke leg the Boss goes in to see him. He comes back all fussed up.
Dry Crik Review (Environmental Issue): Fall 1991
John C. Dofflemyer
FC 11 D-20
29
Audrey Hankins
The Granny Cow
We found her on Silver Mountain, in the oakbrush way up high. A freckled-faced old granny cow with murder in her eye. She shook her bony, toothless head,
comfort, care, wisdom, trailer
Passing Through
FC 11 N-03
28
Howard L. Norskog
Pathway to the Stars
Love to me is but the touch, Of your enchanting form, Your lips, your eyes, and shoulders, too
Ballads of the Plains
FC 11 S-39
20
Emily Eva Mullenger Sloan
The Last of the Buffalo
A lone bison stood on the great divide.
Along the Chisholm Trail and Other Poems
FC 11 R-44
128
George Rhoades
Tornado
Way out here on the plains When you think you're significant, That you're a big shot of great import, That your status is predominant.