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.
Here is a sampling of 25 records from the database of 29769. (View All)
Book Title
Composer
Call #
Pages
Author
Poem Title
First Lines
Keywords
Write 'Em Cowboy
FC 11 G-43
41
Peggy Godfrey
My Neighbor
Vogal is my neighbor he's nearly twice my age I heard when he was a young man he drew a cowboy's wage. I can see he's mighty puzzled by his neighbor's ranchin' wife- her mother should have taught her 'bout her station in this life.
Sawdust & Shavin's
FC 11 S-11
46
Shep Smith
Economy Car
Jungle Jim worries a lot about economy
Old Stories
FC 11 K-26
47
Jo Lynne Kirkwood
It Has Been Awhile
When I think of the old man, I can still see him there on the steps of the bunkhouse, in an old rocking chair. His fingers were knotted from fencing and rope, his back bent and aching. But he smiled when he spoke.
I'd Make an Awful Pioneer
FC 11 J-12
23
Reed C. Jensen
The Fighting Cock
I got this flock of chickens my old rooster passed away,
Graining the Mare: The Poetry of Ranch Women
Teresa Jordan
FC 11 J-10
106
Mela D. Mlekush
Gentleman of the Prairie
He is much about rosebushes, frost-coated and still.
Poetry of Ranch Women
Rhymes Along the Way
FC 11 L-39
61
Robert L. Laumeyer
Doubt
To ask endless questions when no facts can be knows are but tracks in the sand after the wind has blown. To ponder weighty thoughts when the truth is not there is to paint a picture not on canvas, but air.
Western Verse or Worse
FC 11 F-10
65
Rolf M. Flake
Ride `Em Cowboy
There ain't no horse that cannot be rode.
fall, throwed, dependable
Jay Kulm's Pocketbook of Cowboy Poetry
FC 11 K-16
5
Jay Kulm
Boomers and Buckaroos
When there's people who raise cattle, You need people who raise hay.
Cow Camp Poetry: How it was writ, a lot of truth, and a little B.S.
FC 11 W-35
33
Jack Williams
Tipi creepen
I was mothered up with this crow gal one night when in walks this big buck, and he's on the fight
"Originals"
FC 11 S-16
61
J.D. Santee
So You Want to be a Horseshoer
I understand it's a horseshoer you want to be.
Where Old Trails Meet the New on Oregon High Desert
Ramona Turmon and Lona Tankersley Burkhart
FC 11 T-12
43
Lona Tankersley Burkhart
To Elko and the Gathering Staff
It's been tough times, all over the cattle land.
Cowboy: A Roundup of Verse
FC 11 C-17
17
J.T. Crozier
Images
Ever watched.
nature, ghosts, fog, mysterious
RU Lazy 2?
FC 11 N-15
69
A.G. Nelson
Bull vs Geo
I sure wish I was present, That snowy day way back when; But the story my brother recounts, Is as good as any pictures or pen.
Cowboy Poetry
FC 11 S-20
40
Colen H. Sweeten Jr.
Fantasy
Two small boys, while I tagged along,
Rhymes of the Ranges
FC 11 K-04
40
Bruce Kiskaddon
Bull Ridin'
A feller might think he could stick like a leach.
riding, rodeo, performance, event
Chips of Thought: Poems, Lyrics and Ballads from the Heart
FC 11 T-02
2
Gene Taylor
New Mexico and I
This is the spot that I call my home,
Cowboy Poems and Outright Lies
FC 11 S-44
27
Hal Swift
Where's My Hat an' Boots?
There once come a time that I tired of my work.
Cowboy Poetry
FC 11 S-20
56
Colen H. Sweeten Jr.
First Saddle
The catalogue always fell open
Tokens in an Indian Graveyard
FC 11 H-57
81
Linda Hussa
Burk, Edsel, Jimmy, and Arthur Brown
For the Brown kids the path from the Cedarville Rancheria to the elementary school took a short-cut through Hussa's yard to Johnny's sand pile with trucks and a loader, bicycle and wagon
noses, Kool-aid, baseball, bat
Bell Ranch Glimpses
FC 11 E-01
85
Martha Downer Ellis
At Indian Rock Windmill
La Cinta Mesa's cedar-dappled northern wall.
walls, past
Sundry Rhymes
FC 11 G-18
13
June Brander Gilman
A Special Occasion
WOW! Forty years of married life.
Tall in the Sidesaddle: Ranch Woman Rhymes
FC 11 P-12
6
Gwen Petersen and Jeane Rhodes
The Sheepherder's Cathedral
Old Sam goes staggering, half off the curb
whiskey
Graining the Mare: The Poetry of Ranch Women
Teresa Jordan
FC 11 J-10
109
Verlena Orr
Our Mother's Mother
She had no patience for sick kittens.
Poetry of Ranch Women
Drift Wood
FC 11 B-59
13
Lucy S. Burnham
Wings
My hands are filled with homey tasks, But my mind may wander free, Beyond the pleasant valley here Whereve I wish to be.
A Cow's Tail For a Compass; Cowboy Poetry and Short Stories
FC 11 F-17
196
Leon Flick
And The Wind Begins To Blow
The wind is howlin', howliln', And it amkes an eerie sound. And the snow is blowin, blowin'. But it doesn't touch the ground. it rained clear up 'till lunch time. Then the temperature dropped down. Now the wind is howlin', howlin', And the snow don't touch the ground.