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
Partners in Poetry
Irene Pecoraro and Blondell Whitehead
FC 11 P-01
14
Irene Pecoraro
The Old Home Place
Today is the day that I knew must come, And my footsteps
A Little Bit of Texas: A Collection of Original Poetry
FC 11 N-10
60
Rod Nichols
Dust
There's nuthin' more gospel.
drag, sand, clean, cowpunchin'
My Father's Horses
FC 11 G-33
38
DW Groethe
Second Sense
When it comes to second guessin' them cows got exter sense.
Red Hills Malarky
FC 11 W-14
12
Sam Wilson
The New Gadget
We went to the mailbox to pick up our mail.
From My Window and Other Poems
FC 11 H-48
85
Yvonne Hollenbeck
The Perfect Gift
Not everyone's Christmas is merry, not everyone's heart's filled with cheer; perhaps it's because they are missing a loved one not with them this year.
Singing Sioux Cowboy
FC 11 C-10
14
Ann Clark
Our Horses
We have two horses to ride.
pony, wind, rain, sun, snow, bay
Western Travels and Other Rhymes
FC 11 G-27
66
Lysius Gough
Wild Goose and Buzzard
I'll tell you of my pacing brown.
gentle, kind, tame, herd, swift
Songs of the American West
Richard E. Lingenfelter, Richard A. Dwyer and David Cohen
FC 11 L-10
262
Eben E. Rexford
The Ride of Paul Venarez
Paul Venarez heard them say, in the frontier town that day.
Rhymes of the Ranges
FC 11 K-04
19
Bruce Kiskaddon
An Experiment
I'm jest a old hard and fast "Rimmy."
dally, steer, rope, roping, lasso, tie
Ballads of the Black Hills
FC 11 G-11
72
Charles P. "Soldier" Green
Old Time Dance
McCarty gave an old time dance.
dance, square dance, social
Cowboy Meditations
FC 11 L-02
58
Wade Lane
Memories
Hark! to the strains o' sweet music as it floats across the evenin' breeze.
Echoes Of The Dawn
FC 11 B-63
28
Belvina W. Bertino
Christmas Eve
Strange peaceful calm filled all the air That night long years ago, When shepherds watched the heavenly stars And saw an angel-glow.
Melodious Poems From the Hills
FC 11 B-58
70
Sandia Bill
Little Curly Head
Little Curly Head, you have muddy feet, You are dirty, kid, but oh, so sweet. My prety one, The summer sun.
The Cowboy Way
FC 11 L-38
6
Jim Liles
Pearly Gates
There was this fella, whose name I don't recall. Who met his untimely demise riden' broncs at the local rodeo is were he made his final ride. Now this young fella I'm gonna tell ya had lived a pretty good life.
The Song of the Hunter
FC 11 L-40
50
Robert L. Laumeyer
My Pen
My favorite pen I take in hand For restless need does demand, Create beauty in its purest form. Though long I labor, it remains unborn. Beauty is always out there But it is just beyond my reach.
Rawhide Rhymes
FC 11 B-05
80
S. Omar Barker
Pants Polisher
They asked me "What's a saddle?" So I told 'em it's a kack.
wood, leather, horses, ride, horse meat, love for saddles, knowledge about saddle, history, history of saddles, Genghis Khan, magic of saddles, Saracen, Cossock, Arab, Mongol, knight, chevalier, King Richard, Sheridan, Lee, Grant," Black Jack" Pershing, Sir Galahad, Holy Grail, Texas, cowboy's kinfolk, woman, dawn, work, heroes, polished pants
Songs of the Saddlemen
FC 11 B-06
22
S. Omar Barker
Cowboy's Definition of a Saddle
They asked me "What's a saddle?"? It's some leather covered wood.
seat, tenderfoot, sore, gear, cinch, blanket, stirrups, horn, cantle, straddle, horse, saddle horn, soreness
Rawhide Rhymes
FC 11 B-05
113
S. Omar Barker
Charlie Bowdre
Over a hut near Stinking Springs.
gunfight, shooting, battle, Billy the Kid, outlaw, gang, adobe hut, adobe clay, posse, lawbreakers, lead, Garrett, Sheriff Garrett, men hunting, riding for help, death, getting shot, courage, blood, guts, hero, song, story, glory, glorify, praise, untold story, unknown hero, glorification
Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads
John A. Lomax
FC 11 L-12
185
Buffalo Hunters
Come, all you pretty girls, to you these lines I'll write.
A Rhyme for No Reason
FC 11 U-02
4
Bob Urry
The General Store
I sure do miss the old General Store.
Prairie Song A Meander Of Memory
FC 11 G-44
52
DW Groethe
Down by the Willows
Down by the willows sweepin' soft on the waters where the wares slip in for a swallow moon was a~hauntin' an' coyote was a~flauntin' to any ol'bitch who would follow his wayward heart by the dark of the course where the crick ran back up the draw while the rest of the prairie woke an 'eased out wary
A Cow's Tail For a Compass; Cowboy Poetry and Short Stories
FC 11 F-17
173
Leon Flick
It's Home For A Buckaroo
I was born in a sea of sagebrush, and I'm livin' for what I do. 'Cuz this country was made for a mama cow, and it's home for a buckaroo. And there's lots that some won't think pretty, 'Cuz it's covered with brush and rock. But it fits the needs of a buckaroo, and his herds of parent livestock.
Yarns and Rhymes of Cowboy Times
Don and Phil Kennington
FC 11 K-15
86
Don Kennington
The Cowboys' Dream
From daylight 'til dark for a hundred and found, and the rain and the cold and the heat.
On Desert Trails
FC 11 F-03
10
Jewel Finley
Desert Flower
A little desert cactus.
flowers, desert, cactus
The Land Where the Cowboy Grows
FC 11 H-36
8
Addie Viola Hudson
The Storm
The clouds, like unwashed wool, go hurrying by pursued by the Wind Witches of the sky