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
What I Learned On the Way to Life: Insights and Concepts learned along the way..
FC 11 J-15
21
Hans "Jake" Jeppson
Children of the Bear
The barefoot pony moves silently down a grassy path.
Cattle, Horses, Sky, and Grass
Warren Miller
FC 11 C-35
21
Dan Bradshaw
Chickens and Cows
I've studied all kinds of critters.
critters, chickens, cows, ignorant, eat, stupid, logic, people, folks, serve, Sunday's table, dinner
The Night That Acey Deucy Bit the Bear: Poetry from the Hunewill Ranch
Ken Gardner
FC 11 G-26
63
Boyd E. Moffit
Bridgeport Valley and the Circle H Ranch
I went into Bridgeport Valley.
Circle H, cattle, Civil War, boss, Hereford, Morgan, Buckeye Canyon, Honeymoon Flat, Robinson Creek
Songs of the American West
Richard E. Lingenfelter, Richard A. Dwyer and David Cohen
FC 11 L-10
496
Overalls and Snuff
One day as I was walking along the railroad track.
Western Poems
FC 11 R-02
13
Col. Charles D. Randolph "Buckskin Bill"
"The Texas Rangers"
The Texas Ranger's gone now.
Cut from the Same Leather - Book Two
FC 11 C-19
23
Jo Casteel
Best Invention Ever
Now the winter's been sure cold.
inventors, inventions, pitchfork, warmth, cold, winter
Cactus Center Poems
FC 11 C-06
20
Arthur Chapman
Cactus Center and the Census
Down here in Cactus Center we've been hearin' cities roar.
census, population
Out Where the West Begins
FC 11 C-07
56
Arthur Chapman
The Blanket Injun
Jest a worthless blanket Injun.
Indians, attitude, turquoise, contentedness, reservation, way of life
The First Twenty Five Years: Songs and Stories
Dave Stamey
FOLK COLL 11 S-76
17
Dave Stamey
Morning Star's Revenge
The boss couldn't go, because the Eastern Sierra School of Horse Shoeing was coming up that morning from Bishop to practice on our stock. He had to stay in the yard and point out which horses we could afford to have lamed up. All the summer help had already gone home. That left me.
anthropomorphism, trick, horse
Wyoming's Rancher Poet: Timothy Mahoney
Tim Nicholas
FC 11 M-01
31
Timothy Mahoney
Great Men Never Die
Why did they have to gun him down?
Reflections of the West: Cowboy painters and poets
C.J. Hadley
FC 11 H-59
155
S. Omar Barker
Watchin' Him Drink
When you ride a horse to water, slack the reins and let him drink, you can learn a heap about him that you maybe might not think.
prize, iron, pool, lazy, dumb
Hey! Elko
FC 11 P-05
20
M.H. Porter
Capriola's Helpful Clerk
The customer approached the clerk, He said
Steering With My Knees
Paul Zarzyski
FOLK COLL 11 Z-5
44
Paul Zarzyski
The Whale In My Wallet
We're talking humpbacks, not greenbacks, but I'm still sitting fat packing only his flukes - biggest fingerprints you ever saw high-fiving me or, should I say "two-hi-ing" me out of the gray
wallet, sailor, boat
New Mexico in Verse
William Felter and John L. McCarty
FC 11 F-01
76
Haniel Long
Picnic at Canyon Diablo
The rest went anywhere, did anything.
picnic, water, death, belief, God, creation
Outdoors, Faith, Fun and Other Poems
FC 11 B-02
3
Elliott S. Barker
Boy With A Willow Pole
A barefooted boy with a willow pole; Goes scampering out to his fishing hole, A clear, swirling pool in a mountain brook; Where red-bellied trout often take his hook.
trout, youth, childhood, growing up, spanking
Ranch Tales of the Rockies
FC 11 E-03
62
Harry Ellard
My Sweetheart on the Ranch
Oh, my sweetheart, she's a beauty, and lives on Circle X.
love, girlfriend
Where Sagebrush Grows
FC 11 B-62
43
Darin Brookman
The Ballad Of Skeeter Boyd
We happened on her by a grave That looked to hold a child. Half starved and almost froze to death. Curled up like something wild.
75 Years! My Time In Rhyme
FC 11 M-65
148
E.W. "Roy" Miller
Promise Keepers '95
In the year of 1990 while divin' down the road; God laid a burden on his heart and the seed indeed was sowed! Colorado University's football coach, Bill McCartey is his name; Listened to that still small voice and planned a different game! It was to fill CU's Folsom field with 50,000 men
From My Window and Other Poems
FC 11 H-48
46
Yvonne Hollenbeck
Feed Salesmem Don't Lie
We were sure struggling a-raisin' them cattle, it seemed that a profit was not to be found; Our debt was a-growing and we were sure worried until a feed salesman stoped by on his round.
Mountain Echoes
FC 11 W-08
13
Jim Whilt (Poet of the Rockies)
The Prairie
The air is fresh as I ride along,
May Darkness Restore
Sean Sexton
FOLK COLL 11 S-74
3
Sean Sexton
Environmental Audit
Last of all she asked: What are the bare places in the aerial... all over this block - Did you bury toxic waste out there?
environment, audit, bulls
A Little Bit of Texas: A Collection of Original Poetry
FC 11 N-10
64
Rod Nichols
End Of Day
When the cattle are bedded.
stories, mouth harp, git, singin', Great Foreman
Hung out to dry
FC 11 D-22
31
John C. Dofflemyer
For Rod
Sometimes I know it's you before I sort that Ruby Valley ring from phone solicitations
Lessons From Leo
FOLK COLL 11 Q-2
73
Vess Quinlan
Tracks
There is a poem here printed in the soft dirt.
dirt, coyote, scratches
The Cowboy Nerd and Other Favorites
FC 11 L-29
26
Clay "Thumbstack" Lindley
Woolys
It had been a while since I'd had any day work.