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 Poetry
FC 11 D-26
19
Gale Drewry
Big White Horse
Jesus is coming to get us on a big white horse I know For if it were not the truth He would have told me so. I'm going to help Him roundup His Christians and you know And take them up to Heaven on a big white horse I know
75 Years! My Time In Rhyme
FC 11 M-65
141
E.W. "Roy" Miller
A Talk With God
"What have you done with your life?" He asked me. "Have you used the talents I have given to thee?" I looked to the Heavens, and I thought for awhile; "Well, I think I have," I said with a smile! "I've written alot in the past thirty years;
Still in the Mountains
FC 11 D-18
25
John C. Dofflemyer
Obstacles
There are boulders even in dry creek beds, obstacles for water to flow around - make the sounds that soothe us so.
Rhymes Along the Way
FC 11 L-39
26
Robert L. Laumeyer
Age
If you have ever wondered why the old show much stress, think of all their body parts-- when one fails they're in distress.
All This Way for the Short Ride
FC 11 Z-02
70
Paul Zarzyski
She Holds Her Favorite Cowboy Close
Wristwatch strapped over his cuff, a hand.
Sawdust & Shavin's
FC 11 S-11
15
Shep Smith
B.S. Bulletin No. 7 or The Long Arm of the Law
In Clyde's little brown Rambler,
Western Poems
FC 11 R-02
20
Col. Charles D. Randolph "Buckskin Bill"
"Recollections"
I've crossed the dear old U.S.A.
What I Learned On the Way to Life: Insights and Concepts learned along the way..
FC 11 J-15
88
Hans "Jake" Jeppson
The Power of Five Words Never Spoken -- "I'm Sorry, I was Wrong"
Five words that might have changed history, "I'm sorry, I was wrong."
Cowboy Poetry: Tracks That Won't Blow Out
FC 11 O-10
123
Ray Owens
Ridin' For the Brand
You could tell a storm was brewin' from the clouds off to the west While up north the sky had turned from gray to black But that pretty rainbow in the east had kinda foooled us all
Camp and Trail: Incidents of Pioneer Life
FC 11 L-11
7
William Irven Lively
Wandering Bob McGrath
Mountain and desert, Valley and hill.
Songs of the American West
Richard E. Lingenfelter, Richard A. Dwyer and David Cohen
FC 11 L-10
334
The Captain of the Cowboys
I'm Captain Jack of Kurber Creek.
corral, cattle, rope, Blackjack Ranch
Red Hills Malarky
FC 11 W-14
64
Sam Wilson
Christmas 1975
Thank you for that family pose.
American Cowboy Songs
Robbins Music Corporation
FC 11 A-02
42
The Rio Grande
Oh, the Rio Grande is flowing and the starry skies are bright.
banjo, sing songs of yore, heart is full of woe
On the Trail
FC 11 J-21
2
Billy James
His Promise
He promised he would come into our campif we would wait; But it's a getting' darker and it might be just too late. He said that he would hire us, give instructions for our ride;
Tall in the Sidesaddle: Ranch Woman Rhymes
FC 11 P-12
29
Gwen Petersen and Jeane Rhodes
Berry Me Not
Chokecherries, chokecherries, purple and round,
Bunkhouse Tales of Wild Hoss Charley
FC 11 L-37
52
Fred Lambert
That Dog-Gasted Saxophone
We were playing penny ante At the Cross-Bar Lazy B, When the foreman, Wild Hoss Charley, Deat a par of kings to me:
Western Poems
FC 11 R-02
40
Col. Charles D. Randolph "Buckskin Bill"
I'm Going West
I'm going west.
Buckaroo Ballads
FC 11 B-04
16
S. Omar Barker
His Bravest Deed
Oh, I ain't no rival to Billy the Kid; Fer slaughterin' men and fer shootin', Fer drawin' and firin' like Bill Hickok did, Or killin' to settle disputin'.
stiff standup collar, bravery
Ranch Reveries
FC 11 H-21
32
Oscar Herem
Mountain Loneliness
I'm watching evening shadows creep across our canyons, wide and deep.
loneliness, lonely, alone, coyote, restless, mate, spouse, love, husband, wife
Cowboys, Plowboys, and Country Folk
FC 11 R-39
87
Roger Ringer
A Birthday Visit
A fierce cold wind blew from the plain... Those with a sense were in by the fire's glow. A lone pickup was parked down by the churchyard, A solitary figure could be seen standing by a stone.
Burnt Leather
FC 11 H-16
105
Jack Horan
Adieu
Most of the poems that I have written.
poetry, poem, poet, author, writing, writer, goodbye
Cowboy Poetry: Cloud Watchers
FC 11 F-16
154
Rolf M. Flake
Shades
The grass is short, the cows are poor, The tanks are going dry. And things look tough to say the least Beneath a cloudless sky. But a rancher is resourceful Like no one you've ever seen. You've heard of "rose colored" glasses-- Well, he buys 'em tinted green.
Rhymes of Today and Yesterday!
FC 11 G-17
25
June Brander Gilman
Springtime
Another year, and again it's Spring.
Wild Prairie Roses: A Collection of Verse by North Dakotans
Shirley J. Mikkelson
FC 11 M-11
77
Mariana Schwehr Rumer
The color Gap
When I was growing up at home,
green, yellow, plow, hay, red, white, colors, black, hogs.
Write Tough!
FC 11 G-35
24
Peggy Godfrey
Love At 47
Love had been a minefield Since days of early youth Mapped by social dictates To destroy my inner truth. Expectations like explosives Buried, silent in my path Judgments sift like ashes Through the hazy aftermath.