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
Muddled Meanderings of Yesteryear
Bob Ross
FC 11 R-14
29
George M. Stewart
Rustic Experience
Under the spreading pine trees
Poems of the Old West: A Rocky Mountain Anthology
Levette J. Davidson
FC 11 D-02
206
Rufus B. Sage
Night on the Prairie
The sable garb of darkness clothes the land.
epic
Rambler's Notebook: 50 Years of Scribblin': Songs & Poems from the Road
FC 11 A-16
92
Singin' Sam Agins
Lonely Doodling
Loneliness is doodling time.
Cowboy Poetry: The Gathering
Cowboy Poetry: The Gathering
FC 11 W-28FC 11 W-28
148
Michael Whitaker
Weitis
Well, it all started out on Weitis Creek a couple years ago.
Corral Dust
FC 11 K-33
89
E.J. Kirchoff
Roundup, Autumn Morning
The autumn morn was frosty. Ground was mighty hard and froze. And the breeze down off the snow caps PLenty sharp on ears and nose. We're gatherin' the cattle UP around the Darby Peaks. Nearly finished with the roundup
Echoes of the West
FC 11 C-24
24
Idabell Corbett Cramer
Doggerel
Two coyotes sat on a windy hill.
debate, lamb, ewe
Western Poetry: In this land of little rain
FC 11 M-56
30
Jane Ambrose Morton
The windmill song
The mills pumped water through the pipes, as hearts pump blook through veins, cold water from the aquifer, the lifeblood of the plains
Yarns and Rhymes of Cowboy Times
Don and Phil Kennington
FC 11 K-15
132
Don Kennington
The Holstein Yearlings
The wife and I were new in town and she figured a good way to get acquainted was to go to church.
Poems 'n' Things
FC 11 H-18
46
Fred Hardy
The Day I Broke My Leg
It was bout zero degrees the snow a foot deep.
leg, broken bone, bones, horse, fall, emergency, pain, splint
From My Window and Other Poems
FC 11 H-48
27
Yvonne Hollenbeck
That Old Home Comfort Range
Did Grandma ever tell you about that old cast iron range that's out there in the trees behind the shed? It used to be her cook stove in her kitchen on the ranch; I'll bet it baked a million loaves of bread.
Echoes Of The Dawn
FC 11 B-63
14
Belvina W. Bertino
Our Dad
To some he may be just a guy Who does his work without a fuss From day to day, but here is why Our Dad's a "reg'lar king" to us:
Songs of the Saddlemen
FC 11 B-06
69
S. Omar Barker
Don Coyote
They asked me "What's a coyote?"? It's a Mexkin word that means.
Mexican, prairie, howl, howling, wolf, lobo, yellow eyes, craft, cunning, nature, wildlife, animal
A Cowboy on the Last Frontier
FC 11 M-24
46
Bill May
I Bid the Day Adieu
The sun has drifted down the valley
Utah, Uinta, evening
Barbed Wire
FC 11 H-08
60
John Sterling Harris
Ice Crystals
I climbed the north slope.
nature
Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads
John A. Lomax
FC 11 L-12
362
Whose Old Cow
'Twas the end of the round-up, the last day of June.
The Caney Creek Collection
FC 11 C-32
8
Frank Carpenter
Cattle Queen
She was the undisputed Queen.
matriarch, cattle, queen, Caney Creek, Tailholt Town, denim, boots, rawhide throne
City Cattle: Humorous Western Political Satire
FC 11 J-06
52
Derwin J. Jeffries
It Ain't What Has To Be!
Ol' Harvey he goes to the hall.
politics
Rawhide Rhymes
FC 11 B-05
145
S. Omar Barker
Rustler Poker
A-ridin' ol' Bally and a-leadin' ol' Dan.
IC brand, I C brand, song, ICU, I C U, branding, calves, rustling, steal, Ball, ICU2, I C U 2, changing brands, rustlers
Songs of the American West
Richard E. Lingenfelter, Richard A. Dwyer and David Cohen
FC 11 L-10
428
The Cowboy's Dream
Last night as I lay on the prairie.
Sun and Saddle Leather
FC 11 C-12
39
Charles Badger Clark
Ridin'
There is some that like the city -- Grass that's curried smooth and green.
city, riding, envy, satisfaction, pinto
Ballads of the Black Hills
FC 11 G-11
60
Charles P. "Soldier" Green
Careless Actions
Do not intrude upon a stranger.
Golden Rule, others, behavior
Drover Diaries: Original Poems of the American Cowboy
FC 11 N-14
60
Rod Nichols
Hoss Trade
Now I ain't one to jest complain unless I got good cause; it takes a bit to rile me up or make me break the law.
The Man from Snowy River and Other Verses
FC 11 P-16
236
Banjo Paterson
An Evening in Dandaloo
Hidden Trails
FC 11 C-21
31
Austin Corcoran
To Charles M. Russell, Cowboy Artist
Send me a bit of the sky light, Russ.
Charlie Russell, Charles M. Russell, art, painting
Cowboy: A Roundup of Verse
FC 11 C-17
12
J.T. Crozier
Halter Broke
Old Billy Dale was just a 'poke.
women, widow, wedding