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
Cowboy Poetry: Horse Tracks Through The Sage
FC 11 H-47
104
Sunny Hancock
Ode to the Spotted Owl
This old world is in a turmoil in most everybody's view. Seems like we all have different notions of the things we ought to do. From balancing the budget to the price of foreign aid, To the hole up in the ozone all those little spray cans made.
Cowboy Poetry
FC 11 S-20
43
Colen H. Sweeten Jr.
Elko
They came to the mid-winter gath'ring,
The Pony Express: An Epic of the Old West
FC 11 M-22
71
Charles Rendell Mabey
An Indian Snare
But only sky pilots have time for discourse
Outdoors, Faith, Fun and Other Poems
FC 11 B-02
11
Elliott S. Barker
Horse Sense
I have four legs, that's very true, While man was given only two; Is that sufficient reason why; He should not walk as well as I?
horseback riding
Western Poems
FC 11 R-02
8
Col. Charles D. Randolph "Buckskin Bill"
The West Keeps Calling
The west keeps calling.
Cowboy Poetry: Turning to Face the Wind
FC 11 M-50
160
Jane Ambrose Morton
Midnight Cowboy
Pecos' Poems
Pecos Higgins & Joe Evans
FC 11 H-12
23
Pecos Higgins
The Pecos River
I've wandered back to the Texas plains.
change, river, water, progress, pollution
Sawdust & Shavin's
FC 11 S-11
40
Shep Smith
Butter-and-Egg Man
Robin arrived a little allegoric this morning
Poems Mostly Cowboy
FC 11 N-16
2
Dick Nichols
To Mom
They count success in terms of wealth With gleaming mounds of gold, Of fertile fields of golden grain Stretching on for miles untold.
Charlie Goodnight: His Life in Poetry & Song
FC 11 G-24
39
Andy Wilkinson
Saddlin' Up Time
I never looked forward to the end of the day, Or to the evening, drab and melancholy-gray.
Poems from the Alamo Saloon
FOLK COLL 11 L-45
50
Paul Thomas Lillard
Pain
My hands they clutch at the wall, I stand here all alone; the pain I suffer is very great, the worst I've ever known
pain, kidney stone, alone
Poems: Ridin' Fence
FC 11 A-09
77
Vic Anderson
Old George
He'd worked for my dad for quite a few years, Calving and lambing and wrangling for shearers.
The Humbler Poets: A Collection of Newspaper and Periodical Verse, 1870-1885
Slason Thompson
FC 11 T-04
300
E.R. Sill
The Fool's Prayer
The royal feast was done, the king
Old-Time Cowboy Songs
Hal Cannon
FC 11 C-34
74
Wilf Carter
Old Alberta Plains
There's a spot that is dear to the heart of old cowboys.
Cowboy Songs, Jokes, Lingo 'n Lore
FC 11 E-22
20
Wayne Erbsen
Doney Gal
We ride the range from sun to sun, For a cowboy's work is never done. We're up and gone at the break of day, Driving the dogies on their weary way
Horseshoes, Cowsocks & Duckfeet
FC 11 B-47
108
Baxter Black
The Cowboy Image
Corral Dust
FC 11 F-05
33
Robert "Bob" Henry Fletcher
The Wagon Train
Since these days of automobiles, flivvers, limousines, and sich.
teamsters, wagon train, freight, team, speed, gasoline, automobile, progress, change, power
Cowboy Poetry: The Campfire Ain't Quite Out
Kent Stockton
FC 11 S-59
45
Kent Stockton
The Cowboy's Art
Around the turn of the century Vaqueros held sway in the west.
Diary of My Heart
FC 11 S-23
11
Edwin Lee Sankey
New Man
A new man came to work one day,
Song of the Cowboys
N. Howard Thorp
FC 11 T-11
61
author unknown
The Dreary, Dreary Life
A cowboy's life is a dreary, dreary life,
Reflections of the West: Cowboy painters and poets
C.J. Hadley
FC 11 H-59
74
Luci Tapahonso
Sheepherder Blues
"Went to NCC for a year," she said, "was alright. There was some drinking, fights. I just kept low. It was alright"
surprise, Gallup, Oklahoma City, bus
Thoughts in Rhyme
FC 11 M-09
13
E.W. "Roy" Miller
Rodeo Routine
When I was but a young man, and growing into my prime.
On the Edge of Common Sense
FC 11 B-12
103
Baxter Black
The Cow Committee
Once upon a time.
beginning, start, creation, angels, cows, cattle, horns, hide, ears, pure breed, purebred
Ballads of the Black Hills
FC 11 G-11
61
Charles P. "Soldier" Green
The Farmer
Our farmers are just boiling mad.
farming, grain, market, Prohibition, alcohol
The Cowboy Sings: Traditional Songs of the Western Frontier
Kenneth S. Clark
FC 11 C-33
71
Lane County Bachelor
My name is Frank Bolar, bach'lor I am.