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
Graining the Mare: The Poetry of Ranch Women
Teresa Jordan
FC 11 J-10
146
Sue Wallis
Coyote Bitch
Tonight...I feel like a Coyote Bitch (in heat).
Poetry of Ranch Women
Ropin', Ridin' and Ranchin'
FC 11 F-22
8
Dennis Flake
When You're Feeling Low
When you're feeling kinda low and really want to cry, And your poor old husband bugs you every time he passes by, Don't abuse the lowly critter; he may have his troubles, too.
Saddle For A Throne
FC 11 O-13
15
Will Ogilvie
The Maker Of Empire
A patient, honest, kindly friend the packhorse plodded down the years, content his humble life to spend in toil to aid the pioneers. Before the swagman and his load,
retires, bells, seldom, overlander
Muddled Meanderings of Yesteryear
FC 11 R-14
51
Bob Ross
Lap of Luxury
Remember the days away back when
Prairie Poetry: Cowboy Verse of Kansas
Jim Hoy
FOLK COLL 11 H-62
79
Dwight Burgess
My Old Cowboy Boots
Although I don't have any cows anymore, I still wear my cowboy boots. So I guess they're not just worn, By cowboys, but also other galoots.
boots, style, death, desire
The White Clouds Revue, No. 2: Special Cowboy Poetics Issue
Wind Vein Press
FC 11 W-26
6
Anonymous
Australian Convict Ballad
Ride The Silence
FC 11 H-58
73
Linda Hussa
On The Waiting Land
There is a desert it is mine and it is yours badger Quiet lives there rent free raven Sun comes nearly every day and if it doesn't rock chuck the desert waits
quiet, rent free, music, snow, spark
A Little Bit of Texas: A Collection of Original Poetry
FC 11 N-10
53
Rod Nichols
Daybreak
Just before dawn and the sun coming on.
campfire, coffee, mounted
Loose Cow Party
FC 11 B-67
54
Baxter Black
The Therapeutic Goat
Goat: 1) The most widely domesticated ruminant in the world 2) Cantaknerous person, as in "Old Goat" 3) Ancient canon thought to ward off equine disease.
Sundry Rhymes
FC 11 G-18
19
June Brander Gilman
A Supper to Remember
Back in thirty-four, or thereabouts, Times were tough, there was no doubt.
Feels Like Far: A Rancher's Life on the Great Plains
FC 11 H-30
107
Linda M. Hasselstrom
Badger Business
Perched on limestone outcropping in a neighbor's pasture two miles west of my ranch house.
Cowboy Poetry: Classic Rhymes by S. Omar Barker (1894-1985)
Jodie and Bob Phillips
FC 11 B-44
150
S. Omar Barker
What the Ol' Texan Misses
Red cow, white-face, black, Yaller steer with a warbled back.
The Stampede and Other Tales of the Far West
FC 11 L-05
41
"Powder River" Jack H. Lee
The Silver Stallion
The silver stallion of Ashurst Lake, A glorious dapple gray.
Bunchgrass, Sage and Alkili
FC 11 K-34
96
E.J. Kirchoff
Lost in the Fog
We're up aroun the Darby Peaks to gather cattle there. It's autumn and of mornings touch of frost is in the air. One morning fog was hangin' thick and heavy on the ground. Boss said, "It's far too thick for any cow now to be found.
The Humbler Poets: A Collection of Newspaper and Periodical Verse, 1870-1885
Slason Thompson
FC 11 T-04
41
author unknown
The "Coming Man"
A pair of very chubby legs
Heaven on Horseback
Austin and Alta Fife
FC 11 F-13
43
Over the Trail
Out on the desert sear and brown.
l
Poems from the Alamo Saloon
FOLK COLL 11 L-45
162
Paul Thomas Lillard
Another Matter of Choice
Drink lots of liquids I hear tell and do it everyday.
hydration, beer, doctors
Cowboy Poetry
FC 11 D-26
11
Gale Drewry
Run Buffalo Run
Hooves like lighting flash in the sun Run buffalo run, run buffalo run Take your life with arrows and the knife Run buffalo run, run buffalo run
Saddle Pals
FC 11 S-56
22
Nobody's Darling but mine
Come sit down beside me my darling and lay your cool hand on my brow,
Legacy Of The Land
FC 11 B-72
12
Virginia Bennett
High Stakes
You have to be willing to risk it all beyond the point of caring. In one split second, you must dare with no thought of daring. In this play of horses,
death, skull, safest, nails
Tokens in an Indian Graveyard
FC 11 H-57
10
Linda Hussa
At The Beginning
First People prepared to plant the earth with trees. The tedious work sorting the seeds was nearly finished when Coyote came trotting up. Coyote said "I came to help."
juniper berries. trees, seed
Bell Ranch Glimpses
FC 11 E-01
119
Martha Downer Ellis
The Wide Board
In the ceiling of my room.
wood, board, ceiling
Cowboy Poetry: A Gathering
Hal Cannon
FC 11 C-14
126
Don Ian Smith
Old Horse
Old faithful horse, I find you by the creek.
Cowboys, Plowboys, and Country Folk
FC 11 R-39
95
Roger Ringer
Still More Kansas One-Liners
It gets dry in Kansas...how dry can it get? Saw a robin beat the hell out of a redtail hawk tryin gto hog Mama's birdbath...