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
Bunkhouse Ballads
FC 11 C-15
30
Marcus Crowley
Honyock Days
I never knew the glory of the old trail drivin' days.
old times, stampedes, night herd, cowboys, dry farm, teamster, home-stead shack, retrospection
Signature of the Sun: Southwest Verse, 1900-1950
Mabel Major and T.M. Pearce
FC 11 M-02
22
Norman Macleod
Hotevilla
The Indians dance for tourist trade.
Arizona Herstory: Tales from Her Storied Past
FC 11 J-13
23
Dee Strickland Johnson
Red Stone Face
We were traveling down the highway.
Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Indians, vermilion, sandstone, desert, pit house, antelope, cliff dwellings, flint, corn, beans, pious clerics, graves, soldiers, warriors, Dineh, rails, roads, Mother Earth, Father Sky
Sittin' and A-Grinnin': A Collection of Works
Layle Bagley & Linda Merrill
FC 11 B-11
143
Rees Butikofer
My Grand-dad
I remember now a man that no one knew too well.
Cow Country Ballads
FC 11 J-01
10
Laurance Lincoln Jameson
An Old Cow Pony's Dream
Last night as I lay sleeping.
cowpony, cow pony, horse, past, memories
The First Twenty Five Years: Songs and Stories
Dave Stamey
FOLK COLL 11 S-76
189
Dave Stamey
Sweet Grass County Line
Montana morning The far hills show traces of snow The day, come a-dawning Lights rimrock where junipers grow
county line, grass, country
Ballads of the Black Hills
FC 11 G-11
132
Charles P. "Soldier" Green
Deadwood Dick
A cortege moved up Sunrise Mount.
Custer, death, funeral, grave, burial
Songs of the Trail
FC 11 K-08
18
Henry Herbert Knibbs
Gods of the Red Men
Cowboy Poems and Outright Lies
FC 11 S-44
6
Hal Swift
Ballad of Dogie Munroe
Lately I've noticed that some of my friends.
Wind Songs
FC 11 R-43
38
Norman Edward Rourke
Peaceful Valley Town
The sky was dark; the stars were bright, The moon was deadly cold, The men wore faces of bitterness, And death that was foretold
The Humbler Poets: A Collection of Newspaper and Periodical Verse, 1870-1885
Slason Thompson
FC 11 T-04
443
Improved "Enoch Arden"
Philip Ray and Enoch Arden
Up Sims Creek, The Third Trip
FOLK COLL 11 N-18
197
Rod Nelson
Raising son to be a chiropractor was one smart move
I jumped the yard fence a couple weeks ago. I'm thinking about trying it again, preferably when I have a better audience. I did have a couple witnesses when I did this feat, but they aren't talking about it enough. Perhaps jumping a fence since I broke my leg 10 years ago.
fence, pain, son, chiropractor
The Collected Verse of A.B. Paterson: containing The Man from Snowy River
FC 11 P-08
35
A.B. "Banjo" Paterson
The Open Steeplechase
I had ridden over hurdles up the country once or twice
A Cowboy on the Last Frontier
FC 11 M-24
84
Bill May
Progress
Our mountains once so wild, where the Indians used to roam
Missouri Cowboy Poetry
Leroy Watts
FC 11 M-46
224
Ron Ratliff
Now There's a Cowboy
Many attempts have been made to define the attributes of a Real American Cowboy and Buckaroo
Shrewd Angles & Other Undertones
FC 11 D-16
37
John C. Dofflemyer
What More Could I Ask For?
Whatever we decide to call our ordeals, whatever wild ride we buy into always ends up like bones scattered in the draw.
Land Circle: Writings Collected from the Land
FC 11 H-43
26
Linda M. Hasselstrom
Coffee Cup Cafe
Soon as the morning chores are done, cows milked, pigs fed, kids packed off to school, it's down to the cafe fore more coffee and some soothing conversation
The Mystique Of Grouse Creek
FC 11 S-64
40
Elden K. Shaw
Our "Banty" Rooster
Many years ago when I was a young lad, My Brother and I had a talk with our Dad, And pleaded with him like the dickens, To please get us some bantam chickens.
Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads
John A. Lomax
FC 11 L-12
314
Way Down in Mexico
O Boys, we're goin' far to-night.
The Blueberry Roan
FC 11 L-17
24
Bill Lowman
Goat in the Hay
Ah feller I know went to the sale ring one day.
Coyote Cowboy Poetry
FC 11 B-26
144
Baxter Black
Tradin' Horses - narrative
Songs of the Saddle and Trails Into Lonesome Land
FC 11 B-19
5
E.A. Brubacher
Guardian of the Pass
High on the wind-blown crag.
tree, sentinel, War Eagle Pass, guardian, vanguard
Tails of the West
FC 11 M-44
23
Frank "Two Jump" Morris
Tails of the West
There is a good reason for walkin' behind.
Dry Crik Review: Summer 1992
John C. Dofflemyer
FC 11 D-20
37
John C. Dofflemyer
More Horse Sense
Mediocre horses have taught me great vocabularies not necessary to enlightening conversations but sulled-up nags routinely bore with egocentricity
horses, vocabularies, bore
The Columbine Remembers
Anna Bowie May
FC 11 M-26
53
Anna May
Water
for years the liquid gold has flowed