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
Along the Chisholm Trail and Other Poems
FC 11 R-44
41
George Rhoades
Old Men At the Coffee Shop
Pickups out front in a row, Like horses tied to the rail, At the little country diner Slightly off the beaten trail.
Poems of the West: The Spinner of Mists and On Sunset Paths
Lowry Nelson and Harrison R. Merrill
FC 11 N-02
10
Lowry Nelson
The Desert Wind
Messenger of the wasting sand, Fiend and sculptor and artist
Poems of the West: The Spinner of Mists and On Sunset Paths
Lowry Nelson and Harrison R. Merrill
FC 11 N-02
27
Lowry Nelson
Day's End
Day dies in glory, Like a song, Its last harmony, Full and strong
Songs of the Cattle Trail and Cow Camp
John A. Lomax
FC 11 L-13
137
The Insult
I've swum the Colorado where she runs close down to hell.
Missouri Cowboy Poetry
Leroy Watts
FC 11 M-46
49
Peggy Coleman
I Knew An Angel Straight-on
He was a soft spoken man with an outspoken love
Western Poetry: In this land of little rain
FC 11 M-56
51
Jane Ambrose Morton
Partners
For Heather and Matt, it was love at first sight, when they met at "Cowboy's" that fateful fall night.
West River Waltz: Western Poetry
FC 11 G-31
107
D. W. Groethe
How it Rolls
The Train pulled into the station.
Texas Poems By A Texan
FC 11 S-62
53
D.A. Stewart
The Answer
Dear Uncle Ab: please pour it on That fellow with that graphophone. If I was there I'd help you out We'd wreck the pesky thing no doubt. You have my sympathy indeed You cannot sleep, you cannot read. We'd wreck the thing, I say we would, And use it up for kindling wood.
Ever and Always I Shall Love the Land
FC 11 G-01
55
Clell Goebel Gannon
The Christmas Trail
The snow gleams brightly neath a frozen sun.
family, home, friendship, Christmas
Poems 'n' Things
FC 11 H-18
23
Fred Hardy
A Miracle in the Mission Home in Salt Lake City
Tonight I saw a miracle, the answer to a prayer, the spirit of the Lord touched someone, call it what you may.
not a poem
Scattered, Lasting Remnants: "Fine Lines" of Poetry and Song
Echo Klaproth
FC 11 K-25
105
Colen Sweeten
There are two unwritten laws in the West That should be engraved in stone, "Don't mess with the cowboy's hat, and leave the sheepman's dog alone." (untitled). Cowboy poetry is not all about words even though they may be skillfully arranged; cowboy poetry is something that can transfer the feeling as well as the word picture. (untitled).
Holaday and Hampton Poetry
Hampton Livestock Commission Co.
FC 11 H-39
55
The Holaday & Hampton Poet (Bruce Kiskaddon)
Hot Day
The sun's beatin' down till the flats are burnt brown, and your hoss is a-takin' it slow.
City Cattle: Humorous Western Political Satire
FC 11 J-06
21
Derwin J. Jeffries
Can the Ushers!
The government.
finance, revenue, government, begging
Lyrics of the Lariat
FC 11 G-10
112
Nathan Kirk Griggs
Garland the Land
Tho' the world is abloom, in the heart there is gloom.
rum, wine, alcohol, evil, sin, morality
An Aussie Turned Cowboy Wife
FC 11 S-45
14
Marie W. Smith
The Bluchers
Back in the thirties he had them made.
Tracks in the sand: original cowboy poetry
FC 11 W-36
58
Perry L. Williams
Savin' the critters
The envir'mentalists wuz a marchin' talkin' loud about th' need to rescue Texas minners that most folks ain't never see'd
Wild Prairie Roses: A Collection of Verse by North Dakotans
Shirley J. Mikkelson
FC 11 M-11
66
Eldo Jacobson
That's right
Around the corner and down the street
street, feet, dog, cat, tree,
End o' the Trail
FC 11 P-07
30
Guy Parker
Those Pioneers
Lest we forget what they went thru
history
Ten Tall Tales
FC 11 B-23
21
E.J. Bird
The Singing Coyotes
"Powder River" Jack Lee
FC 11 L-33
2
Jim Griffith
Powder River Jack Lee
biography
Cow Country Lyrics
Jodie & Bob Phillips
FC 11 B-51
1
S. Omar Barker
Cowboy's Reverie
There's a lone night bird-a-calling, there's a low moon o'er the hill,
Scribblings
FC 11 R-42
17
Norman Edward Rourke
Coyote
Warily loping across the field, The coyote is alert to all around, Eyes see beyond, ears hear the silence, Nose captures smells from air and ground.
The Medicine Keepers
FC 11 A-10
6
J.B. Allen
The Sum of the Parts
A sore cantankerous S.O.B.; Is generally what they say of me; And I reckon they ain't missed 'er by too much.
Texas Poems By A Texan
FC 11 S-62
10
D.A. Stewart
Old Dun
With a stripe across his withers And a line run down his back, With Zebray stripes on his knees and hocks, And both ears tipped in black; The hide he wore was a smutty dun; He was fifteen hands or so; Had one glass eye and on his thigh Was the map of Mexico.
Trail Mix: Cowboy Language, Lingo, Poetry & Recipes
Diane Tribitt
FC 11 T-18
38
Diane Tribitt
The Rodeo Poem
Welcome to our humble home we're glad that you stopped in our floor's a tad bit dirty and our roof's a little thin