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
Cowboy Lyrics
FC 11 C-03
45
Robert V. Carr
Down at Haller's Dancin'
They's tunin' up the orchestray down at old Bill Haller's.
square dance, caller, dance
Poems 'n' Things
FC 11 H-18
10
Fred Hardy
For Merle June 6, 1972
Well Son, just a word or two from me.
child, God, prayer, religion, Mormon, testimony, belief
More Cow Country
FC 11 E-05
5
Tom Ellinwood
Peaceful Citizen
Some stories that you hear about.
pig, desert, boar, wildlife
Bell-Bottoms to Boots
FC 11 W-07
13
Joe "Blackie" Wilson
Tommy
Tommy was the ugliest one, so I saved him
Western Poems
FC 11 R-02
26
Col. Charles D. Randolph "Buckskin Bill"
From Punching Cows to Punching Keys
I used to punch cattle where it was wild and free.
Muddled Meanderings in an Outhouse Number 2
FC 11 R-12
64
Bob Ross
Comfort Comes to the Hunting Camp
In a hunting camp by the horse corral
The Collected Verse of A.B. Paterson: containing The Man from Snowy River
FC 11 P-08
176
A.B. "Banjo" Paterson
The Road to Old Man's Town
The fields of youth are filled with flowers, the wine of youth is strong
Red Hills Malarky
FC 11 W-14
51
Sam Wilson
The Destiny of a Bobtail Cat
Poetry and Prose of Terry Michael Gwinn
FC 11 G-28
7
Terry Michael Gwinn
Alive and Well on the Pecos River
prose
Along the Chisholm Trail and Other Poems
FC 11 R-44
75
George Rhoades
At Wal-Mart
On the bench at Wal-Mart, Watchin' people come and go, Pushin' carts packed with stuff That must really make them grow-- 'Cause some of 'em, more'n a few, Grown so much they're big as two.
Trail Dust : Sketches on the Trail
FC 11 H-03 v. 1
2
W. Howard Hamm
Sunrise
An early ride in the morning.
Ol' Mike's Philosophy and Foolishness
Mike Oatman
FOLK COLL 11 O-14
30
Nadine Stair
If I Had My Life to Live Over
I'd dare to make more mistakes next time. I'd relax. I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip.
mistakes, relive, life
Stretch Marks
FC 11 G-34
78
Peggy Godfrey
Season of indifference
What's wrong with me? This disconnectedness! So unlike shearing, lambing summer "ewe mow" in town
Where Prairie Flowers Bloom And Other Poems
FC 11 H-33
84
Yvonne Hollenbeck
How the Poor Folks are Doing
As I was writing my Christmas letter.
blessings, city, high-tech, sorrows, money, country, rich
Frost On The Fork Handle and Other Selected Verse
FC 11 G-25, 2 copies
18
Betty Lynne Grue
Walking In A Winter Wonderland
Across a wintery world of white with snowflakes siftin' down and daylight driftin' into night, my truck goes flouncin' on frozen ground.
misfortune, vain, frozen, page, hole
Buckaroo Ballads
FC 11 B-04
122
S. Omar Barker
Ol' Spring Again!
I reckon Adam saw it come again.
spring, melting snow, seasons
Cowboy Lore
FC 11 A-01
65
Jules Verne Allen
Little Joe the Wrangler
It's little Joe the Wrangler he'll wrangler never more.
wrangler, remudda, Texas, "Chaw"
Chips of Thought: Poems, Lyrics and Ballads from the Heart
FC 11 T-02
47
Gene Taylor
All About the Author
I had four brothers and four sisters, a big family of nine.
For Cowboys, Campers an' Common Folk
FC 11 H-19
61
Charlie Hunt
Rebel
All yo're years out on the range.
freedom, horse, wild, mustang, tame
Blazin' Bloats and Cows on Fire
FC 11 B-56
15
Baxter Black
Cowboys advice to the lovelorn
While entertaining the Farm Bureau in Ventura, California, I was introduced to three cowboys who were colluding on a column with the editor of the Ventura County Star
prose
Rhyme Doesn't Pay -- But Neither Does Cowboying
FC 11 B-46
31
Ed B. Brown
Tie or Dally
There's an age-old controversy.
Best Loved Poems of the American West
John J. and Barbara T. Gregg
FC 11 G-09
328
Charles Badger Clark, Jr.
The Sheep-herder
All day across the sagebrush flat.
woollies, Spring, poetry, sheperd's songs, smell, Kansas State, Bliss Township, Section Five, rattler's den, Minnie, pastorals, Eden
Missouri Cowboy Poetry
Leroy Watts
FC 11 M-46
73
Jimmy Couch
I Used to be a Cowboy Blues
I walk alone in city shoes.
Treasure Chest of Cowboy Songs
FC 11 T-08
16
Little Old Sod Shanty On My Claim
I am looking rather seedy now while holding down my claim
Old-Time Cowboy Songs
Hal Cannon
FC 11 C-34
54
Brewster Higby
Home on the Range
Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam.