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
Missouri Cowboy Poetry
Leroy Watts
FC 11 M-46
236
Francine Robison
Licking the Icing Bowl
My mind goes back to long ago
Where Shadows Are Born
FC 11 B-73
22
Henry Real Bird
Satan Maiden
If ever there comes, a time in life you can have what you want would I be who you want or whould I be the one, to still haunt in the still of the night when things ain't right
erase, love, dream, chase, crazy
Open Range: Poetry of the Reimagined West
Laurie Wagner Buyer & WC Jameson
FC 11 W-30
39
John Duncklee
El Corrido de Antonio Beltran
I listened to the tales of my father about the days and months in the land that paid in dollars the trips north the bus to the border the walk along the river hiding days and walking nights.
Dry Crik Review: Summer 1992
John C. Dofflemyer
FC 11 D-20
47
Cynthia J. Harper
Shipwreck, New Mexico
It's hard to be a cowboy's kid. I mean, let's fat it, they don't hold rodeos in fancy places. I ask Daddy how come this place is called Shipwreck if there is no ocean and no ships.
Motel, fancy places, ships, rodeos
A Bronco Pegasus
FC 11 L-14
114
Charles F. Lummis
Notice of Intention
I am going to move to the Land of Dreams
Missouri Cowboy Poetry
Leroy Watts
FC 11 M-46
93
Carol Ellis
Cattle Working
Horses snorting softly
Hidden Trails
FC 11 C-21
28
Austin Corcoran
You and the Old Violin
We've missed you a lot, dear Daddy.
father, child, violin, memories, dad
When Pigs Fly
FOLK COLL 11 M-76
24
Les Morrow
The Eve That Drug Main
The old ewe had lived a long time But she finally gave it up. So old man Broderson drug her off, With her feet tied there behind the pickup.
sheep, death, truck, drag
Cowboy Poet
FC 11 W-03
35
Stephen R. Wilhelm
Train Whistles
When th' cowboy's herdin' cattle
Rhymes Along the Way
FC 11 L-39
66
Robert L. Laumeyer
Infinite Pleasures
An infinite source of pleasure the most tiring work we find; to work beyond our limits, use our inquiring mind. For the inquiring mind, in its insatiable quest, will have moemnts of pleasure, but it will never have rest.
Songs of the American West
Richard E. Lingenfelter, Richard A. Dwyer and David Cohen
FC 11 L-10
69
Subsidy: A Goat Island Ballad
There is a corporation within this Golden State.
railroads, Mormon, Sacramento City, San Francisco, Oakland, legislature, Stanford, Yerba Buena
Ballads of the Black Hills
FC 11 G-11
44
Charles P. "Soldier" Green
The Belle Fourche Rodeo
The rodeo Stars from all the West.
rodeo, South Dakota, Sioux, Indians, Calvin Coolidge, President
The Lavonne Houlton Compendium: Ponies, Poetry and Prose
FC 11 G-42
190
Janet Gingold
Last Word (2007)
T'was a night to be forgotten, but few there were who could. For sometimes nothing turns out the way you think it should. Now, I know you won't believe me, "Though what i say is truth.
Muddled Meanderings in an Outhouse Number 2
Bob Ross
FC 11 R-12
66
Anonymous
The Sanctuary
Beneath the spreading Doug-fir tree
Poems from the Alamo Saloon
FOLK COLL 11 L-45
100
Paul Thomas Lillard
???
If you get into combat, your first words will be, "Now why in the hell are they shooting AT ME?"
combat, question, why
Cowboy Lyrics
FC 11 C-03
107
Robert V. Carr
She Writes a Note
She writes a note, it starts, "Dear Boy."
mail, jealousy, surveyor
Songs of the Trail
FC 11 K-08
3
Henry Herbert Knibbs
I Have Builded Me a Home
Signature of the Sun: Southwest Verse, 1900-1950
Mabel Major and T.M. Pearce
FC 11 M-02
119
Hilton Ross Greer
The Road of Midnight Pageants
This is no common roadway.
Heaven on Horseback
Austin and Alta Fife
FC 11 F-13
76
The Last Ride
It was a tenderfoot, a youthful lad, Who came to the West the first chance he had.
Cow Country
FC 11 E-04
86
Tom Ellinwood
Summer Lament
The summer heat he takes in stride.
rain, dry, need, summer, water
Rope and Pan
FC 11 E-02
2
Martha Downer Ellis
In Lovington Cemetery
Under the sod the ranchers lie.
rancher, grave, cemetery, windmill, water, comfort
Rodeo Fever: A Collection of Poems Capturing the Spirit of Rodeo
FC 11 R-01
4
Tom Raley
Goin' Down the Road
Those who rope and ride the rodeo.
Cowboys, Cattle, Horses, and Stuff
FC 11 B-65
40
T.L. Bush
Gettin' Older
Well Buckeroo you done went and done it. Beat the devil out of, one more year. I don't think it's cause he don't want you, he's just punishin' the rest of us here.
75 Years! My Time In Rhyme
FC 11 M-65
152
E.W. "Roy" Miller
I Believe In Miracles
Do you believe in miracles? - I sincerely hope you do if you just read the Bible, you will before you're through! 'Cause Jesus performed many,and I'll name just a few; In chapter 10 of the book of Mark, 46 through 52- He heals the blind Bartimeus, -and if you will further read;
Catching It Whole: A First Collection of Poems
FC 11 P-02
37
R.J. Petrillo
Penstemon
Give me penstemon in sudden clusters, Along the road edge. ..and time to see them
flowers