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
Spur Jingles and Saddle Songs
FC 11 G-06
109
Lysius Gough
Dim Trails
The range is mighty differ'nt.
increasing population, memories, cowpunchin' days, new ways, Sam, planet Mars,
Hogwash Hokum and Heifer Dust
FC 11 W-37
9
George Wolstad
The Romance of Rex
A farmer's dog came into town his Christian name was Rex
Cowboy Curmudgeon and Other Poems
FC 11 M-45
22
Wallace McRae
One More Shipping Day
The crew has all been mustered, from around the neighborhood.
Yarns and Rhymes of Cowboy Times
Don and Phil Kennington
FC 11 K-15
145
Phil Kennington
Emmy Lou's Signature
You can honor grandpa's golden watch or the baby's lock of hair.
The Humbler Poets: A Collection of Newspaper and Periodical Verse, 1870-1885
Slason Thompson
FC 11 T-04
140
Music in the Soul
Over my soul the great thoughts roll
Cowboy Poetry: Classic Rhymes by Bruce Kiskaddon (1878-1950)
Mason and Janice Coggin
FC 11 K-21
189
Bruce Kiskaddon
Who Told the Biggest
One night a bunch of buckaroos; Were gathered 'round a fire.
Cowboy and Other Poetry: Thoughts by Men Who Have Mashed Their Fingers
FC 11 T-16
6
Jim Tanner
Jack Vest
Jack Vest was a hand of ours.
Cowboy Curmudgeon and Other Poems
FC 11 M-45
134
Wallace McRae
Urban Cowboy
Look at him there with his hat all rared back.
Reflections of the West: Cowboy painters and poets
C.J. Hadley
FC 11 H-59
50
Jim Sagel
Talking Horses
Uncle Steven rolls his own as we sit in the last sun under skeeletal alamos and talk horses how his bitch of a mare throws everyone except him
horse races, wins, Indians, San Juan
Treasure Chest of Cowboy Songs
FC 11 T-08
14
The Lonesome Cowboy
I ain't got no father, I ain't go no father,
Wrong Time Wrong Place
FC 11 F-21
9
Ed Fields
The Barn
In the late 1800's, while I was still a tree A farmer from the east, was wantin to be free
The Mystique Of Grouse Creek
FC 11 S-64
6
Elden K. Shaw
The Desert
To most the desert's a foreboding place, With miles and miles of only empty space, So to those who never have lived there, Here are some thoughts I'd like to share.
Poems from the Alamo Saloon
FOLK COLL 11 L-45
201
Paul Thomas Lillard
The Wise Man
There was once a very wise man who lived in Persia now called Iran.
wisdom, ancient, creation, science
What I Learned On the Way to Life: Insights and Concepts learned along the way..
FC 11 J-15
71
Hans "Jake" Jeppson
Purpose in Everything
?And if a man tells you that you are ugly.
Cheyenne Line and other poems
FC 11 B-57
49
J. V. Brummels
Let me ask you
Stand on teh end of a three-horse saw
Cowboy Poetry from Utah
Carol A. Edison
FC 11 E-06
52
F. Allan Brewer
Modern Cowboy
I have lived a wild life and I've earned what I've spent.
occupation, cowboying, cattlemen, work, pay, winter, snow, cattle, life
Songs of the American West
Richard E. Lingenfelter, Richard A. Dwyer and David Cohen
FC 11 L-10
256
Tittery-irie-aye
Come all my good people and listen to my song.
strange, Nauvoo, wilderness, Indians, Council Bluffs, wives
Songs of the Outlands: Ballads of the Hoboes and Other Verse
FC 11 K-07
50
Henry Herbert Knibbs
Nothing to Do but Go
I'm the ramblin' son with the nervous feet; That never was made for a steady beat.
Poems from the Alamo Saloon
FOLK COLL 11 L-45
173
Paul Thomas Lillard
Lillard's Law
Oil in water will never mix nor will truth in politics.
luck, rule, impossible, convince
Ranch Verses
FC 11 C-09
131
William Lawrence Chittenden
Texas Types -- The Sheriff
He's a quiet, easy fellow, with his pants tucked in his boots.
ranger, Rio Grande, justice, courage, law
Galloping Shoes
FC 11 O-7
53-55
Will H. Ogilvie
The Offside Leader
I want no praise, nor ribbons to wear; I've done my bit and I've had my share
From a Cowboy's Point of View
FC 11 H-52
110
Dick Hays
The Vinegaroon and the Centipede
'Twas up at the crossover switch Last night or the night before, I sat on my powder box A-gazin at the floor. I heard a kind of racket,
One Hundred Poems
Waddie Mitchell
FOLK COLL 11 M-73
61
Waddie Mitchell
Middle of No-where
Out here in the middle of no-where is where I'm best suited to be It's where I got rid of that something Not letting my heart or mind free For everyone there is a somewhere And no-where just sits well with me And they'll have to come out here to no-where if They've reason to want to see me
rural, small town, urban
Cow Country
FC 11 E-04
57
Tom Ellinwood
Hoofprints on the Tireprints
Some darn fool failed to shut the gate.
gate, cutting
Cattails & Other Poems
FC 11 D-27
12
John C. Dofflemyer
In Rust We Trust
Unwrapping a Great Blue Heron from a trout line of twenty #4 Eagle Claws took two men & a boy to wrestle still to snip
gullet, hope, Iron, oxidize, effort