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
Slabs of the Sunburnt West
FC 11 S-01
31
Carl Sandburg
Four Steichen Prints
The earth, the rock and the oil of the earth
Cow Foreplay (from a bull's point of view)
FC 11 H-53
26
Jim Hoobler
The helping hand
Some friends helped a neighbor with his famring today, he got hurt awhile back and has a hospital stay.
Horse Tales
FC 11 J-23
15
Billy James
Tossing a Cowboy
I'm gonna buck of fthis cowboy; Toss him right off on his rear! He chose to ride me on drag but I'm not supposed to be here. I should be point, or at right flank
Night Herding Song
FC 11 H-10
41
Gerald Hausman
Burls
Maple burls like rounded knots of rope.
trees
Bronc to Breakfast and Other Poems
FC 11 L-23
65
Mike Logan
Evening
Evening mounts a dark horse.
Buckaroo Ballads
FC 11 B-04
50
S. Omar Barker
His Hour Divine
There's lots of way of takin' hearty comfort as you eat, And feedin' of your soul with calm content.
meat, beef, food, home, love, wife, sweetheart
Men of the Open Range
FC 11 L-26
71
Mike Logan
Great Spirit
Almighty father hear my prayer.
Exchanging Courtesies
FC 11 S-57
34
Marie W. Smith
The Red Felt Hat
I've seldom seen a cowboy hat that was fired engine red,
Written in fond remembrance of Ethie Corrigan, a cowboy poet and my friend.
Western Poems, No. 2
FC 11 K-02
36
Olephia "Leafy" King
Songs on the Prairie
I'm a lonely cowhand.
sing, singing, song, riding, prairie, God, belief, guidance, West, spouse, marriage, light
The Whorehouse Bells were Ringing
Guy Logsdon
FOLK COLL 11 L-46
27
D. J. O'Malley
Charlie Rutledge
Another jolly cowboy has gone to meet his fate; We hope he'll find a resting place inside the Golden Gate. A good man's place is vacant on the range of XIT; We'll never find another that's liked so well as he.
death, ranch, texas
More Cow Country
FC 11 E-05
1
Tom Ellinwood
Winter Perfume
In wintertime, when it gets cold.
winter, cold, smell, smoke, mesquite, southwest
Original Cowboy Poetry
FC 11 S-25
57
Colen H. Sweeten Jr.
Genuine Leather
It was a half-page ad in the paper
Cowboy Poetry: Tracks That Won't Blow Out
FC 11 O-10
171
Ray Owens
What it's All About
Character, the old man said, is what it's all about; It's what keeps a feller gon' when his world turns inside out. Now, I don't know if Mr. Webster would for certain sure agree But the gumption in our gizzard is what it's always meant to me
Echoes Of The Dawn
FC 11 B-63
16
Belvina W. Bertino
Criticism
Some folks will argue -- even fight -- Because they think their ways are right; They'll ridicule and minimize And want to whittle down to size.
Night Herding Song
FC 11 H-10
20
Gerald Hausman
Me
Crows and jays.
self, shower
Rawhide Rhymes
FC 11 B-05
116
S. Omar Barker
The Great Seizer
They asked me "What's a sheriff?" I thought everybody knowed.
West, horney toad, important person, law and order, outlaw, thief, duty, responsibility, arrest people, avoid shooting, fair chances, sheriff occupation, shoot without warning, guts, courage, fearlessness, elected sheriff, trigger, fast reaction, friends, foes, warrant, trouble, solving problems, taw, uphold the law, Great Caesar, nickname, difficult job
West River Waltz: Western Poetry
FC 11 G-31
35
D. W. Groethe
The Funeral
A local old timer had quietly passed on
Dry Crik Review (Environmental Issue): Fall 1991
John C. Dofflemyer
FC 11 D-20
32
Terry Henderson
Rattlesnakes And Tourists
I have a mountain pasture with a clear and sparking stream. It's as pretty as a picture like many artists dream. I pasture purebred cattle there.
critters, snake town, camper, snooper, summer
Poems of a Desert Cowboy
FC 11 B-30
49
Rob Blair
Quite the Life
A punchin' them cows is how I make my pay.
Saddle Pals
FC 11 S-56
43
Tying the Knot in the Devil's Tail
Way up high in the Sierra Peaks where the yellow jack pines grow tall
Cowboy Poetry: The Campfire Ain't Quite Out
Kent Stockton
FC 11 S-59
139
Kent Stockton
Better Times
He closes his eyes, rememberin' back, though the years to him haven't been kind;
Dedicated to the memory of Bill Young
Men of the Open Range
FC 11 L-26
53
Mike Logan
Hollywood and Vine
Them movie moguls like to shoot; Out here where they can see.
Where Prairie Flowers Bloom And Other Poems
FC 11 H-33
18
Yvonne Hollenbeck
Plum Blossoms in the Spring
When at first I married this cowboy I had a lot to learn.
pastures, tractor, winter, calving
Poems About the West
FC 11 G-05
27
Frank Goodwyn
Washed Dishes
The dishes are washed, the table dusted.
waiting, longing, disappointment
Rhyme Doesn't Pay -- But Neither Does Cowboying
FC 11 B-46
16
Ed B. Brown
Matrimony
The rancher's son had lost his heart.