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
The Columbine Remembers
Anna Bowie May
FC 11 M-26
1
William May
The Columbine Remembers
Beside a country school house, there's a Columbine in bloom
flower
Rhymes o' a Driftin' Cowboy
FC 11 H-01
79
Chuck Haas
Look Up, Cowboy
Whilst haid fer home, `bout ha'f way back.
weather, winter, snow, seasons, beauty
Almost a Cowboy: A Biography in Verse
FC 11 W-24
28
Jane Webecke
Castle Foundation
Jane was the first of his kids to be teased.
Song of the Cowboys
N. Howard Thorp
FC 11 T-11
65
J. W. Foley
The Fate of the Beef Steer
Hush-a-by, Long Horn, your pards are all sleepin'
75 Years! My Time In Rhyme
FC 11 M-65
129
E.W. "Roy" Miller
My Other Daughter
With my precious wife of forty-seven years, together, raised a family of four; I'm grateful to have had that many, yet I'm glad there weren't anymore! Two sons we're very proud of and tow daughters, we're very proud of too we couldn't have done any better, regardless of what we'd do! But there is another one they call her our daughter-in-law;
Graining the Mare: The Poetry of Ranch Women
Teresa Jordan
FC 11 J-10
66
Linda M. Hasselstrom
Seasons in South Dakota
Dirty snow left in the gullies, pale green spread overnight on the hills mark spring.
Poetry of Ranch Women
Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads
John A. Lomax
FC 11 L-12
9
The Days of Forty-Nine
We are gazing now on old Tom Moore.
The Broncho Book
FC 11 C-13
60
Captain Jack Crawford
Resigned
I'm a-croonin' to de baby.
lullaby, baby
Cowboy Poetry Matters: From Abilene to the Mainstream: Contemporary Cowboy Writ.
Robert McDowell
FC 11 M-54
38
Jon Bowerman
Last Visit with the Banker
Sittin' there in the Beggar's Chair in the banker's office that day
Cowboy Love Poetry: Verse from the Heart of the West
Paddy Calistro, Jack Lamb, Jean Penn
FC 11 C-36
46
Henry Herbert Knibbs
Pont Tracks
I was ridin' for the Blue; When she wrote to me from France.
Cow Country Happenings
FOLK COLL 11 G-46
37
Lonnie D Garten
The Twister
We were going to have a junior rodeo And I was trying some bucking steers We had some big old staggy steers For the twisters to try to top.
twist, trick ride, rodeo, bronc
I Ain't No Dude
FC 11 G-19
5
Lloyd M. Gerber
Macho
Once I saw two mules; That I swear were ten feet tall.
The Whorehouse Bells Were Ringing
Guy Logsdon
FOLK COLL 11 L-46
169
Unknown
The Gay Cabellero
There once lived a gay caballerio, He lived in an ancient castillio; he played with his trololillio, And the works of his peedle-dum-dee.
disease, spanish, flirt
North and East of Down Under
FC 11 S-46
31
Marie W. Smith
Mating
In raw brown fields to the west.
More Hilarious Happenings and Other Cowboy Poetry
FC 11 M-63
3
E.W. "Roy" Miller
Thank You Dear Friends
Listen up and I'll ask you a question: have you heard of the word called Friend? It's a person who's there when you need them it's their hands and their heart that they lend!
firemen, 911, compensate, slave, comfort, support
Horseback in the Hills: A Collection of Cowboy Poetry & Photography
FC 11 P-22
45
Roy Pace
Give Me a Horse
Most people like to ride horses, but a few prefer to ride a mule
Poetry of Skinny Rowland, Complete Works to 1993
Skinny Rowland
FOLK COLL 11 R-49
40
Skinny Rowland
The Midnight Monster
It must have been that musty smell, that seemed to fi;; the room, a thick and moldy rancid smell, that reminds one of a tomb.
monster, dream, fear
Rope and Pan
FC 11 E-02
48
Martha Downer Ellis
The Surgeon
Because he knew.
life, operation, skill, medical practices
Wolf Tracks on the Welcome Mat
FC 11 Z-03
55
Paul Zarzyski
Angelina, My Noni's Name, Means Messenger
All the flesh I saw was the beggar's palm circled by sunlight.
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
Frontier Ballads
FC 11 H-06
35
Joseph Mills Hanson
A Khaki Kick
Back there in Washington, people may stare.
general, army, soldiers, Nelson A. Miles, character, cavalry
Prairie Vagabonds
FC 11 H-04
10
Laura Vernon Hamner
Lights from a Hotel Window
Night-gray reaches of a distant suburb are marked by softened.
night, flowers, blooming, city
The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses
FC 11 S-43
68
Robert W. Service
My Madonna
I haled me a woman from the streets.
Dry Crik Review (Elko Commemorative Double Issue): winter/spring 1994, 2 copies
John C. Dofflemyer
FC 11 D-20
37
Shadd Piehl
Buffalo Bull Spring Song
Alongside you (And no other) I have stood And followed For ten days Roaming the earth. For ten days!
Where Shadows Are Born
FC 11 B-73
41
Henry Real Bird
Otter Woman
So much you can read and feel wrote this for a feelin' you might now. Times have changed but I've not changed love you more then I did before guessin' and hopin'
hopeless, clouds, beautiful woman, flame