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
Unhobbled: Cowboy Poetry, Stories, and Outright Lies
FC 11 R-31
92
Pat Richardson
Bigfoot
The Adventures of Ole and Andy
FOLK COLL 11 A-26
68
Clarence "Andy" Anderson
A Visit to Australia
Our eventful trip to Alaska to relocate Ole's lost gold mine was nearing a satisfactory ending. Out Piper cub glided to a stop on the prairie in Lane Co., Ks. Ole had sent a telegram to Luleo, Sweden informing his sweetheart, Olga Lindberg, that he was coming to marry her.
austrailia, wedding, storm
Ol' Mike's Philosophy and Foolishness
Mike Oatman
FOLK COLL 11 O-14
14
Douglas Malloch
If We Knew
If we really knew the fellow that we talk about so much, Then the hardest heart would mellow with a little kinder touch.
knowlege, kindness, speaking
RU Lazy 2?: The Cowboy Poetry of Ira Cowpoke
A.B. Nelson
FC 11 N-08
51
Ira Cowpoke
The Shoppin' Trip
It's a strange symbiotic relationship.
Chips of Thought: Poems, Lyrics and Ballads from the Heart
FC 11 T-02
30
Gene Taylor
In Remembrance
This lonely graveyard is the spot for me
A Montana Cowboy's Book
FC 11 A-05
34
Don "Cheese" Akerlow
The Indians Way
You got to understand; To learn from the red man; We've got to understand; That we have to give back to the land.
Indians, Mother Nature, land
Horse-Thief Gulch
FC 11 H-07
93
Samuel Harkness
Simeon Butts
Simeon Butts was a drummer and called on Ike Ford monthly.
salesman, selling, envy, service, orders, garage
Poems, Facts and Fiction
FC 11 O-03
41
Harold Otto
Jerry Rice
There's a man in the Methow who's respected by all of the people who know him, be they short, thin, or tall.
A Cowful of Cowboy Poetry
FC 11 B-43
66
Baxter Black
Old Bulls
If our wives had packed their husbands; With the care we buy a bull; There'd be a lot more bachelors on the street.
Singing Sioux Cowboy
FC 11 C-10
4
Ann Clark
My House
My house stands on a hill top.
sun, wind, grass, nature, stars, logs, trees
What I Learned On the Way to Life: Insights and Concepts learned along the way..
FC 11 J-15
19
Hans "Jake" Jeppson
Blessings At Her Hands
Ask me, "What's a Blessing," and meaning of "At Her Hands."
Bygone Days of the Old West
FC 11 L-01
214
Fred Lambert
The Guard of El Diablo
Somewhere out in the broad expanse; Of hills and desolation.
Gran Quiviras, treasure, Canyon Diablo, death
Out Where the West Begins
FC 11 C-07
85
Arthur Chapman
The Invalid
Sick in the cow-camp --moonin' round.
pain, ache, help, rain, dumpness, cheerfulness
Trail Dust : Sketches on the Trail
FC 11 H-03 v. 1
16
W. Howard Hamm
Shadows on th' Trail
There are always things to see and do.
Cowboy Poetry: Cloud Watchers
FC 11 F-16
322
Rolf M. Flake
Native Born
A lady called the other night-- Takin' a political survey. She asked if I had time to talk-- If I could it'd finish up her day. She she quizzed me on statewide issues, Things national and international. I spoke my mind to such a point that I think she figured I was irrational.
Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip
FOLK COLL 11 N-18
19
Rod Nelson
Birthday night out on the town a huge success
Things are really picking up here at Sims. We recently entertained some friends on a night out on the town.
coupon, couple, friends
West River Waltz: Western Poetry
FC 11 G-31
14
D. W. Groethe
A Little Thing about Creepin' Jenny
It lurks in the garden with the beets an' the peases.
Grand River Tales and Other Poems
FC 11 E-13
25
Elizabeth Ebert
Make Me a Windmill
When I am dead.
Cowboy Poetry: Horse Tracks Through The Sage
FC 11 H-47
125
Sunny Hancock
Waterloo
Old Jess caught up his horse one day, rode out across the hill, He was riding on his rancho just outside of Porterville. The wind came up and he got cold so he put on his coat When just across the ridge he hearrrrd the blatting of a goooooooat.
Musings from Cowboy Country
FOLK COLL 11 R-46
5
George Rhoades
Brazos Bill, The Stampede Man
Brazos Bill was the best, they said, At takin' herds up the Chisholm Trail
cattle, stampede, cowboy
Poems, Facts and Fiction
FC 11 O-03
94
Harold Otto
Tom Allen
Tom was a man with love of life and the world in which we live.
Ranch Reveries
FC 11 H-21
27
Oscar Herem
Lead Syndrome
December 14th, seventy-three, I had a fistulectomy.
doctor, nurse, hospital, operation, rear-end, bottom, sitting
Lyrics of the Lariat
FC 11 G-10
224
Nathan Kirk Griggs
Love's Moods
The study of Love, tho' ever exciting.
Songs of the Saddlemen
FC 11 B-06
86
S. Omar Barker
Thirsty Cowboy
There's a sayin' out west and it's true, I'll allow.
Sundry Rhymes
FC 11 G-18
8
June Brander Gilman
The Santa Ana Wind
The Santa Ana wind, writhing and strong.