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
Tracks in the sand: original cowboy poetry
FC 11 W-36
24
Perry L. Williams
The legend
The motely county buzzards they all keep a sharp eye peeled, for this two-toned lookin' pickup with a wild man at the wheel.
Saddle Pals
FC 11 S-56
13
Home in Wyoming
Pale moon carry me home to the rolling clouds tonight, Please moon please don't let me stray, show me the wrong from the right,
Wild Song
FC 11 M-05
5
Jean A. Mathisen
Wanderlust
I hear that wild voice calling.
What I Learned On the Way to Life: Insights and Concepts learned along the way..
FC 11 J-15
112
Hans "Jake" Jeppson
Duty and Honor
I am Pegasus, The Horse.
Bygone Days of the Old West
FC 11 L-01
138
Fred Lambert
The Rattlesnake
I live my life in the desert; I bask in the morning sun.
Reflections of the West: Cowboy painters and poets
C.J. Hadley
FC 11 H-59
125
Curley Fletcher
The Pot Wrassler
How are you there cowboy, I hope you are well, Jest light from your saddle and rest fer a spell. Here are the makin's,
wagon, jean, truck, galoots
Cowboy Poetry Matters: From Abilene to the Mainstream: Contemporary Cowboy Writ.
Robert McDowell
FC 11 M-54
169
Paul Zarzyski
Buck
The December my horse died, I did not go to midnight mass to celebrate with a single sip of wine Christ's birth.
The Sunlight Kid and Other Western Verses
FC 11 S-09
32
Lawrence B. Smith
Sunset Land
You ridin' men come close, and lend your ear,
Treasure Chest of Cowboy Songs
FC 11 T-08
25
Jim Wilson
Jim Wilson used to be my pal, He let out and stole my gal,
Cowboy Poetry: The Gathering
FC 11 W-28
55
Michael Whitaker
Cowboy Poet
The morning sun warms up the air left over from the night.
New Mexico in Verse
William Felter and John L. McCarty
FC 11 F-01
72
Henry H. Lawrence
Carlsbad Cavern
Titanic miracle of nature's loom.
cave, Carlsbad, stone, beauty, nature
Mountain Echoes
FC 11 W-08
44
Jim Whilt (Poet of the Rockies)
The Eternal Home
When you come back to the land you love after roaming far and wide,
Dry Crik Review: Summer 1992
John C. Dofflemyer
FC 11 D-20
45
Jay Dusard
Skeeter Hughes
Buckskin horses, Year! I always pay too much of the sons of bitches.
buck, deer, horses, money
Saddle Talk
FC 11 B-08
64
Owen J. Barton
The Red Ant Hill
I was riding' the desert.
ride, riding, Diamond A, hot, heat, flowers, ant mound, cooperation, team, team work, welfare, belief, God, bite, ants, pants, open fly, nude, naked, buck, learning, learn, knowledge
Breezy Western Verse
FC 11 A-11
94
James Barton Adams
Father Time's Partiality
I vividly recall the day long, long ago, Pauline.
Up North is Down the Crick
FC 11 M-17
22
Wallace McRae
The Tourist and the Native
Our State Bird is the Meadowlark, And he's alright, I guess
magpie
Crazy Quilt: A Patchwork of New and Collected Poems
FC 11 E-21
1
Elizabeth Ebert
I Know About The Prairie
I know about the prairie Where the wind blows fresh and free, Where grasses sway and shimmer, Undulating like the sea. I do not know the desert With mesquite and prickly pear, And its air of silent mystery I am an alien there.
Charles Badger Clark Poetry from The Pacific Monthly
FC 11 C-26
6
Charles Badger Clark
A Love Song of the Range
Out from the ranch on a Saturday night, Ridin' a horse that's a shootin' star.
New Cowboy Poetry: A Contemporary Gathering
Hal Cannon
FC 11 C-30
55
Waddie Mitchell
The Whole Load
In a western town in the days of old.
town, gold, community, church, preacher, sermon, ol' Jake, parson, Satan, religion, feed, God, hay, cow
Cowgirl Poetry: One Hundred Years of Ridin' and Rhymin'
Virginia Bennett
FC 11 B-69
147
Evelyn Mellard
You Ride Away
I watached you ride Away this morning, Following you Beyond my sight With field glasses.
Rhymes o' a Driftin' Cowboy
FC 11 H-01
213
Chuck Haas
I'll Say
Boys, cow-hosses t'day are bred fine...ary way.
horses, cow pony, mustang, Morgan, Arabian, Quarterhorse, breeds, breed
Christmas on the range and other Christmas Poems
FC 11 H-46
20
Yvonne Hollenbeck
Dear Santa
Are you the same dear Santa Claus who used to visit me and always left a present underneath our Christmas tree?
Corral Dust
FC 11 K-33
43
E.J. Kirchoff
Just the Way I Like It
Old Bill and me, said Smokey Jones,, Was down in Mexico. We're somewhat younger then, of course, A number years ago. We'd been a punchin' catt.e Had a quite a range to ride.
Laugh Kills Lonesome
FC 11 L-25
63
Mike Logan
Which You Want to See
"North," he said, "I'm headin' north.
Poems of American Cowboys & Nature
FC 11 C-04
13
Bob A. Carson
Cowboys
The cowboys they come and go.
adoration