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
The Poetry of 'Breaker' Morant
FC 11 M-58
9
Harry 'Breaker' Harbord Morant
The Wooing o' 't.
He was a bachelor, gallant and gay She was a spinster prim-- Pretty and prim, with a wonderful way Which had captivated him.
Where Old Trails Meet the New on Oregon High Desert
Ramona Turmon and Lona Tankersley Burkhart
FC 11 T-12
13
Lona Tankersley Burkhart
To a Buckskin Mare Named Get Along Gal
I walked out and saw you lying there, at the foot of the hill./ My old heart stopped beating, and my whole world stood still.
Missouri Cowboy Poetry
Leroy Watts
FC 11 M-46
266
Neal Torrey
Old Four-Eyes
In Eighteen eighty-three, at age twenty-five, he went West.
Cowboy Poetry: Classic Rhymes by S. Omar Barker (1894-1985)
Jodie and Bob Phillips
FC 11 B-44
68
S. Omar Barker
The Sentimental Banker
I went to see a banker to negotiate a loan.
Along Old Trails: Poems of New Mexico and Arizona
FC 11 S-06
40
William Haskell Simpson
Acoma Kiva Chant
We are the two - of earth home, of sky home -
Best Loved Poems of the American West
John J. and Barbara T. Gregg
FC 11 G-09
89
O. Henry
Tamales
This is the Mexican.
Don Jose Calderon, cacti, murderers, pulque, fleas, revolution, garlic, San Jacinto, Minie balls, gringos, Austin, Bradstreet, vengeance, dog meat, Santos Esperitos, Vicente Camillo, Quitana de Rios, De Rosa, Ribera
Best Loved Poems of the American West
John J. and Barbara T. Gregg
FC 11 G-09
422
Carl Sandberg
Buffalo Dusk
The buffalos are gone.
dust, old times, past
Open Range: Poetry of the Reimagined West
Laurie Wagner Buyer & WC Jameson
FC 11 W-30
71
Max McCoy
Summer is Short and the Night is Long I
So I walk the river road at night, sit by the water beneath stars, watch the moon rise over pools, feel the tide within my veins and dare to drink the mystery of her again.
Coyote Cowboy Poetry
FC 11 B-26
36
Baxter Black
The Gay Caballero
He wore a black hat and come up from Nevada.
search for work, punching cattle, Virginia Slims, picky, choosey, fashion, style, Leroy Brown, bunkhouse, hair dresser, buns, cute, kiss, actor, tricked, cheated, employment, pink tights, joke, fooled
Too Thick to Drink?Too Thin to Plow: Poems of the Cow Country
FC 11 M-04
29
John R. Markley
Preg Testing Out at Bill's
Cody Bill from Haverhill called me up the other day.
Just Thinkin'
FC 11 S-17
33
Georgie Connell Sicking
Loco and Liquor
I've seen drouth depression and fire swept rangeland in this life of mine,
Holaday and Hampton Poetry
Hampton Livestock Commission Co.
FC 11 H-39
68
The Holaday & Hampton Poet (Bruce Kiskaddon)
Hosses and Flies
It is right interesting' how hosses fight flies.
First Roundup: Western Ballads
FOLK COLL 11 J-25
62
Dee Strickland Johnson
End of the Day
Well, I see that the sun is setting, and quite soon the day will be gone,But it doesn't much disturb me, 'cause there'll sure be another dawn.
change, night, sun, season
The Land Where the Cowboy Grows
FC 11 H-36
23
Addie Viola Hudson
The Legend of Columbine
When God brought forth this world for us he planned innumerable pleasures,
Best Loved Poems of the American West
John J. and Barbara T. Gregg
FC 11 G-09
262
Frederick Whittaker
Custer's Last Charge
Dead! Is it possible? He, the bold rider.
hero, Indians, victory, pride, warriors, Sitting Bull, squadrons, Ogallala, Arapahoe, Cheyenne, Wild Horse, Sioux, battle, death
Wild Prairie Roses: A Collection of Verse by North Dakotans
Shirley J. Mikkelson
FC 11 M-11
80
Ellen L. Crawford
power at hand
an unknown strength unfurled
unknown strentgh, erupting volcano, guillotine.
FC 11 H-24
no book, free number
Cowboy Poetry: Cloud Watchers
FC 11 F-16
128
Rolf M. Flake
What're Ya Gonna Give For 'Em?
Have you ever attended an auction? If you haven't you've sure missed a lot. It's a bit of Americana And you'd enjoy it likely as not. It's been a part of our way of life Since the early days of our land-- When they sold slaves at auction, bad though it was, And sometimes hard to understand.
Rawhide Rhymes
FC 11 B-05
10
S. Omar Barker
The Ring-Tailed Wowser
They asked me "What's a wowser?" Well, a wowser is the critter.
nester, daughter, windies, tall tale, exaggeration, story, imagination, tales, Pecos Bill, tease, nesters
Graining the Mare: The Poetry of Ranch Women
Teresa Jordan
FC 11 J-10
102
Jo-Ann Mapson
Tell Us Again
"Back then," Gemma said, "they gave you ether, none of this panting like a run-over dog.
Poetry of Ranch Women
Fair Girls and Gray Horses
FC 11 O-12
33
Will H. Ogilvie
Good-Bye, Lynette!
I have worked for you - toil made sweet, love! And never I grudged an hour; Now the dead leaves drift at our fee, love,
Alaska-Yukon Favorites
FOLK COLL 11 S-78
12
Robert W. Service
The Spell of the Yukon
I wanted the gold, and I sought it; I scrabbled and mucked like a slave. Was it famine or scurvy - I fought it; I hurled my youth into a grave.
nature, yukon, gold
Scribblings
FC 11 R-42
N/A
Norman Edward Rourke
Stories
Story poems can be short or long. There are no rules. Each has its own meaning.
Breezy Western Verse
FC 11 A-11
14
James Barton Adams
A Christian Cowboy's Creed
I am no professin' Christian of the sort the cities hold.
golden rule, nature, sanctuary
On the Edge of Common Sense
FC 11 B-12
48
Baxter Black
Hurricane Charlotte - not a poem