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
Tokens in an Indian Graveyard
FC 11 H-57
23
Linda Hussa
Fort Bidwell Indian School 1898-1940
prose
Thoughts in Rhyme
FC 11 M-09
9
E.W. "Roy" Miller
Happy Birthday, Dad
With another year behind us, we look back ore' old times.
Cowboy Poetry: Tracks That Won't Blow Outf
FC 11 O-10
196
Ray Owens
Arguin'
'Tween forty and fifty years ago, when I was just a lad I had a talk one afternoon with old grandadd. He was sittin' in his rockin' chair, rockin' to and fro
Blossoms Beneath the Snow (A Tribute to the Pioneer Ranchwomen)
FC 11 H-34
73
Yvonne Hollenbeck
The Watcher
She always learned to watch for us.
Brushstrokes & Balladeers: Painters and Poets of the American West
C.J. Hadley
FC 11 H-60
90
Banjo Paterson
In the Droving Days
"Only a pound," said the auctioneer, "Only a pound; and I'm standing here selling this animal, gain or loss-only a pound for the drover's horse?
poor, sea, honest, ill
Charles Badger Clark Poetry from The Pacific Monthly
FC 11 C-26
29
Charles Badger Clark
A Song of the Oregon Trail
We're the prairie Pilgrim crew, Sailin' with the sun.
A Bronco Pegasus
FC 11 L-14
121
Charles F. Lummis
The Epigram
The epigram is the Wasp of Wit
The Columbine Remembers
Anna Bowie May
FC 11 M-26
59
Anna May
My Size
In the eyes of the world I may seem very small
Best Loved Poems of the American West
John J. and Barbara T. Gregg
FC 11 G-09
4
Rosemary and Stephen Benet
Western Wagons
They went with axe and rifle, when the trail was still to blaze.
prairie-schooner, California, wealth, Nebraska, Wyoming, Iowa, settle land, West, cross the continent, fortune
Verse for Aussie Children
Carmel Randle
FC 11 R-27
75
Sharon Anderson
A Hole in the Road
Wishing for a magic hole
Cowboy Poultry Gatherin'
FOLK COLL 11 A-23
28
Darrell Arnold
Memories, Friends, and Eight-by-Tens
Headlights and traffic, life on the go- Long roads and miles to the next rodeo; Small country fairgrounds, big city show- Ride and move on to the next rodeo.
rodeo, fame, friends, life
Western Poetry: In this land of little rain
FC 11 M-56
63
Jane Ambrose Morton
Wild horses
I've seen wild horses running free across Wyoming plains, the blacks, the bays, the roans, the duns, with flying tails and manes
Signature of the Sun: Southwest Verse, 1900-1950
Mabel Major and T.M. Pearce
FC 11 M-02
29
Zoe A. Tilghman
Alibi
Six foot two in his moccasins.
The Best of Robert Service
FOLK COLL 11 S-77
12
Robert Service
The Shooting of Dan McGrew
A bunch of the boys were whooping it up in the Malamute saloon; The kid that handles the music-box was hitting a jag-time tune; Back of the bar, in a solo game, sat Dangerous Dan McGrew, And watching his luck was his light-o'-love, the lady that's known as Lou.
hunger, death, shooting
Legacy Of The Land
FC 11 B-72
64
Virginia Bennett
The Hazards Of Braggin
"I always have a walkin' horse," the cowboy said with pride. "The one that's walkin' fastest is the only one I'll ride. "And if I'm workin' with a colt
teach, train, school, failed
Up North is Down the Crick
FC 11 M-17
54
Wallace McRae
Me and the Hippie on the Greyhound Bus
What sign was you born underneath?
signs, zodiac, birth, brands, culture, differences, language, conversation, square, words
The Big Roundup: Classic and Contemporary Poetry from CowboyPoetry.com
Margo Metegrano
FC 11 M-47
175
Jim Kitchens
The Day That Tuff Just Came to Ride
Bad Bulls of the P.B.R.
Cowboy Poetry: Classic Rhymes by S. Omar Barker (1894-1985)
Jodie and Bob Phillips
FC 11 B-44
78
S. Omar Barker
To a Blue-Eyed Cowgirl
I used to think the sky was blue, And mornin' light was neat.
Cowboy Poems from Mona Flatts
FC 11 R-28
14
Scott Redington
Parson William's Mule
Parson William bought a mule.
Rhymes of Today and Yesterday!
FC 11 G-17
35
June Brander Gilman
The Elk Heard
In many counties of Montana; Large herds of elk do reside.
Missouri Cowboy Poetry
Leroy Watts
FC 11 M-46
101
Carol Ellis
Needled
We arrived down in Texas
Sky Humour
Sid Marty
FOLK COLL 11 M-68
94
Sid Marty
Putting up Wood
Seeing a wisp of grey beside those eyes that blaze with love of living, makes him grieve
love, flirt, wood
Graining the Mare: The Poetry of Ranch Women
Teresa Jordan
FC 11 J-10
111
Verlena Orr
Prophecy
We're not watching The Fireworks this year.
Poetry of Ranch Women
Sittin' and A-Grinnin': A Collection of Works
Layle Bagley & Linda Merrill
FC 11 B-11
44
Marie W. Smith
Buck
There have always been times; When things were tough.
Round-Up: The Roper
FC 11 C-31
6
Ernest Cox
The Bull Dogger
He came riding into Butte one day.
Appaloosa, Rodeo, bull-dogging, half-breed, Cherokee, Indian, first place, dressed, stranger