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
Barbed Wire and Other Poems
FC 11 P-04
26
Edwin Ford Piper
The Prairie Fire
With all dry grasses rustling in the breeze, Where fireguards saved them.
Signature of the Sun: Southwest Verse, 1900-1950
Mabel Major and T.M. Pearce
FC 11 M-02
166
anonymous
De Boll Weevil
Oh, have you heard de latest.
Prairie Song A Meander Of Memory
FC 11 G-44
81
DW Groethe
He Rides a Mellow Gelding Anymore
He rides a mellow gelding anymore. A good horse but not as spirited as before. An' that's just fine. 'Cause there comes a time when a fella grows tired of dirt. A taste~full here a face~full there. a back plumb full a'hurt. He figgers heck, he's paid his dues an' one more wreck, well, he'd hate to lose it all the way.
Poems from the Alamo Saloon
FOLK COLL 11 L-45
232
Paul Thomas Lillard
Advice
My pop used to tell me when I was a kid many years ago there are some things about this life that a boy should know.
father, advice, backup
Poems from the Alamo Saloon
FOLK COLL 11 L-45
103
Paul Thomas Lillard
The Mosquito
I admire the Creator for what he's done, the earth, the flowers, the warmin' sun, the trees, the rivers, this pleasant land, most of it is simply grand. But the mosquito I just can't fathom why in hell we got to have 'em.
creation, mosquito, purpose
City Cattle: Humorous Western Political Satire
FC 11 J-06
44
Derwin J. Jeffries
Who's Cussin' Who?
We cuss our politicians out.
Bureaucrats, government, crooked, corruption
Rope and Pan
FC 11 E-02
32
Martha Downer Ellis
My Dishpan
Here's to you, Old Friend!
dishes, dishpan, washing, housework
More Muddled Meanderings in an Outhouse
FC 11 R-13
20
Bob Ross
Camp Pride
It's just a tarp and steel posts
Breezy Western Verse
FC 11 A-11
45
James Barton Adams
The Women Who Bade Them Go
The heroes who rallied beneath the flag when the bugle for warriors pealed.
hero, brave, war, fight, flag
Cowboy Poetry: Cloud Watchers
FC 11 F-16
160
Rolf M. Flake
Not Guilty By Reason of Ignorance
The cowboy into the courtroom-- Accused of a serious crime. They said he'd "appropriated" another man's horse And didn't return him on time. "Are you on the plaintiff or the defendant?" Question asked by the judge--of course. "I don't rightly know which I am." the cowboy said.
Horsefeathers
FC 11 R-06
77
Johnny Ritch
String Team Joe's Plea
Bill Adams owned the Good Luck Pard.
Dry Crik Review (Double Environmental Issue): fall/winter 1992/93, 2 copies
John C. Dofflemyer
FC 11 D-20
75
Sue Wallis
Tim Roof Symphony
When another likely droughty summer comes slilpping past a too-mild winter When fairly skimpy snowpack statistics back up the fears of old-time mystics.
The Humbler Poets: A Collection of Newspaper and Periodical Verse, 1870-1885
Slason Thompson
FC 11 T-04
320
George T. Foster
The Church Steps
Two centuries of steps and then
Truth, Lies & Otherwise
FC 11 R-24
19
Carl "Skinny" Rowland
The Old Wanderlust
Now the moon was shining brightly, in that big Montana sky,
Horse-Thief Gulch
FC 11 H-07
76
Samuel Harkness
James Bagby
Jim spent fifty years in the hills prospecting.
prospector, mining, poverty, welfare, coffin, mine, gold
Best Loved Poems of the American West
John J. and Barbara T. Gregg
FC 11 G-09
115
Mary Austin
Winter in the Sierras
The pines are black on Sierra's slope.
north wind, cold, bear, squirrels, wolf, red fox, eagle, hawk, birds
A Roundup of cowboy humor
Ted Stone
FC 11 S-66
99
Mike Logan
Ranch truck
A ranch truck's like a rancher. Don't dress up fit t' kill.
Never Ask a Man the Size of His Spread: A Cowgirl's guide to Life
FC 11 M-37
Gladiola Montana
not poetry
Songs of the American West
Richard E. Lingenfelter, Richard A. Dwyer and David Cohen
FC 11 L-10
438
Only a Cowboy
'Way out in old Texas, that great Lone Star State.
Lyrics of the Lariat
FC 11 G-10
131
Nathan Kirk Griggs
A Thirty Years' Dream
Where is that little school-house, Alf.
school, memories, past, youth, childhood, boy
West of East
FC 11 H-17
31
Harry Elmore Hurd
Purple Patches
Attention, poets, the Critic speaks.
commentary, color, colors, poetry, poems, writing, criticism, cynical, satire, satirical
Pony Nelson and Other Western Ballads
FC 11 R-09
30
Clyde Robertson
Drill, Ye Tarriers
He had lost his eyes in a powder blast.
Missouri Cowboy Poetry
Leroy Watts
FC 11 M-46
40
Harold Carpenter
50 Yds South
You may have heard those Okies are a whole different breed.
Riding With Jim: Adventures with Cowboys and Farriers: Stories and Cowboy Poetry
FC 11 N-13
244
Andy Nelson
Change
My office sits in the big wide open, my job takes me there every day; My duties of both ridin' and ropin', are the only reasons I stay. I work in the sagebrush and alkali, from the comfort of my saddle; Living the cowboy lifestyle and code I care for my horses and cattle.
Song of the Cowboys
N. Howard Thorp
FC 11 T-11
171
The Zebra Dun
We were camped on the plains at the head of the Cimarron