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
First Roundup: Western Ballads
FOLK COLL 11 J-25
40
Dee Strickland Johnson
Tom's Truck
With my horse on the fritz, and me needin' a Schlitz, I borried my brother-'n-law's truck. I went on a bender and dented a fender- now ain't that a cow puncher's luck? My pal Dick and me, we just wet on a spree which lasted til three in the mornin'; Don't know about Dick, but I's feelin' right sick, when up comes this tree without warnin'!
truck, accident, anger
Both Sides of the River: Western Poetry
FC 11 W-22
6
Howard E. Wright
Grandpa's Model T
Just east of Nebraska's sand hills
Rhymes of Today and Yesterday!
FC 11 G-17
5
June Brander Gilman
He Who Laughs Last
This happened at a western show.
"Pull Your Hat Down and Come-a-Ridin'!": Photos and Ridin' Rhymes
FC 11 K-14
46
Gayle S. Klein
"Tradin'"
Yup, that's not a bad horse.
Saddle For A Throne
FC 11 O-13
245
Will Ogilvie
Adam Lindsay Gordon
Ah! sad, proud Gordon! Crossing swords with care, and touching hands so many times with Death that Death at last came, kissed him scarce aware, and laid him sleeping
hope, prove, reckless, bushman, horseman
Sittin' and A-Grinnin': A Collection of Works
Layle Bagley & Linda Merrill
FC 11 B-11
9
Dorothy Wheeler
Day's End
Dear Lord, I'm not much on religion I know?
Write 'Em Roughshod; Life 'N Such Like
FC 11 G-36
30
Peggy Godfrey
Biodiversity
Managers of public lands Research and meeting dudes Invent six-buckle vocabulary For folks with five-buckle boots. Ranchers, environmentalists Have to learn the current lingo I'm barely getting fluent In equine, bovine and Dingo.
The Broncho Book
FC 11 C-13
77
Captain Jack Crawford
The Veteran and His Grandson
Hold on! Hold on! My goodness, you take my breath, my son.
war, veteran, epic
Pull Up a Chair: Cowboy Poetry
FC 11 R-22
58
Jim Ross
Ginger
Don't know just where he came from,
Western Poems
FC 11 R-02
40
Col. Charles D. Randolph "Buckskin Bill"
The Man Who Farms the Land
Oh! free is the man.
Wolf Tracks on the Welcome Mat
FC 11 Z-03
7
Paul Zarzyski
The meaning of intimacy
Not reasong, but romantic prehistoric instinct coaxes my whiskered cheek to the bristled
Rhymes o' a Driftin' Cowboy
FC 11 H-01
189
Chuck Haas
A Big Surprise
I's strollin' `round Ol' Wickenburg, in style.
hunger, need, needy, female, woman, poverty, aid, help, generosity, giving
Cowboy Poetry: Contemporary Verse by Duke Davis
Janice and Mason Coggin
FC 11 D-10
19
Duke Davis
Stare Into the Fire
There's somethin' 'bout starin' into a fire.
The Best of Robert Service
FOLK COLL 11 S-77
189
Robert Service
The Wedding Ring
I pawned my sick wife's wedding ring, To drink and make myself a beast. I got the most that it would bring, Of golden coins the very least. With stealth into her room I crept And stole it from her as she slept.
ring, pawn, love
Cowboy poetry and passel of western paintings
Jake Holster
FC 11 H-49
4
Orville Howard
Jake Holster
He was a north Texas cowboy reared between sun and sod, Who played out the golden rule while making a ride for God.
Both Sides of the River: Western Poetry
FC 11 W-22
36
Howard E. Wright
A Cowboy in Seattle
Poetry sees to take you places.
The Fence That Me and Shorty Built
FC 11 S-49
64
Red Steagall
He was There
The sun was creeping 'cross the rise.
Western Travels and Other Rhymes
FC 11 G-27
33
Lysius Gough
Our Lives Were Saved
One night on the borders of New Mexico.
Terra Blanco, storm, rain, danger, horse, brave
Coming Out Of The Cowboy Closet (Cowboy Poetry, Pictures, and Other Stuff)
FC 11 C-56
44
D.L. Chance
A Cow Is A Cow
The ad in the paper said, "Wanted, somebody to work cows." "Now that's right up my alley." the cowboy thought, "Since I'm out of work anyhow."
A Medley of Wilderness and Other Poems
FC 11 B-01
1
Elliott S. Barker
Life
Life's like a wild horse; One must tame on his own.
life, philosophy
The Best of Robert Service
FOLK COLL 11 S-77
134
Robert Service
Maternity
There once was a Square, such a square little Square, And he loved a trim Triangle; But she was a flirt and around her skirt Vainly she made him dangle.
love, children, maternity
Horsin' Around
FC 11 C-53
15
Stu Campbell
Getting on a Horse, More or Less
Prose: When I graduated from high school I left home and got a job on a cattle and dude ranch in Montana
Horseshoes, Cowsocks & Duckfeet
FC 11 B-47
91
Baxter Black
Uncle Bucker's Baby
Horse-Thief Gulch
FC 11 H-07
47
Samuel Harkness
Answers
Angus Mackenzie, owner of the Sphinx and believer in fairies.
character, mine, question, questions, life, friendship, discussion, conversation, life
The Humbler Poets: A Collection of Newspaper and Periodical Verse, 1870-1885
Slason Thompson
FC 11 T-04
153
Steubenville Herald
The Frivolous Girl
Her eyes were bright and merry