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
Scattered, Lasting Remnants: "Fine Lines" of Poetry and Song
Echo Klaproth
FC 11 K-25
115
Sue Wallis
These cattle, horses, grass and sky dance and dance and never die-- they circle through the realms of air and ground and empty spaces where a human being can join the song-- can circle, too, and not go wrong... (from "Cattle, Horses, Sky and Grass").
Poems of Banjo Paterson
n/a
FOLK COLL 11 P-40
108
Banjo Paterson
Saltbush Bill's Gamecock
'Twas Saltbush Bill, with his travelling sheep, was making his way to town; He crossed them over the Hard Times Run, and he came to the Take 'Em Down; He counted through at the boundary gate, and camped at the drafting yard: For Stingy Smith, of the Hard Times Run, had hunted him rather hard.
sheep, rooster, breeder
Bitterbrush Country: Living on the Edge of the Land
FC 11 P-31
229
Diane Josephy Peavy
The Cattle
The Collected Verse of A.B. Paterson: containing The Man from Snowy River
FC 11 P-08
56
A.B. "Banjo" Paterson
A Voice From the Town
I thought, in the days of my droving
That Spotted Sow & Other Hill Country Ballads
FC 11 A-03
30
Carlos Ashley
Luck
A lucky boy am I to have; A wife so sweet and comely, While pore old Bill, he's got a wife; Who's mean as hell -- and homely.
married life, marriage, humor
Prairie Wife
FC 11 E-20
53
Elizabeth Ebert
A Windy Montana Tale
A gale force wind, Montana style, Was blowing from the west When a man of nearly ninety years Began a midnight quest To catch an errant Stetson That had taken sudden flight Across the street and parking lot And off into the night.
A Rhyme for No Reason
FC 11 U-02
9
Bob Urry
Lost Dreams
An old weathered cowboy
The Song of the Hunter
FC 11 L-40
25
Robert L. Laumeyer
Mother
When I was young, you were old I loved you then as precious gold. When I was little, you were big; You were the tree, I but the twig. When I was foolish, wise were you, Questions I asked, answers you knew
Poems of American Cowboys & Nature
FC 11 C-04
67
Bob A. Carson
Out Our Way
I thought I'd never see.
Cowboy Poetry: Cloud Watchers
FC 11 F-16
317
Rolf M. Flake
A Chip Off the Old Block
There's a certain type man Out here on the range-- I'll tell you about him-- To some he might seem quite strange. He's a Mormon Cowman And the difference shows He's a man of great faith Because of the things that he knows.
Crazy Quilt: A Patchwork of New and Collected Poems
FC 11 E-21
134
Elizabeth Ebert
Baler Twine
Grandma saved string. There was no piece too short To knot together, and add to the ball She misered in the lowest cupboard drawer. It makes me smile a bit as I recall For I save baler twine.
Spur Tracks & Buffalo Chips: Cowboy Verse and Country Chartling
FC 11 S-19
74
Bob Schild
Life's Uncertainty
'Tis filled with toil, 'tis plagued with strife,
The Spell of the Yukon and Other Verses
FC 11 S-43
115
Robert W. Service
Comfort
Say! You've struck a heap of trouble.
Cattle, Horses, Sky, and Grass
Warren Miller
FC 11 C-35
92
Ray Fitzgerald
Reminiscin'
When we get to reminiscin'.
The Best of Robert Service
FOLK COLL 11 S-77
108
Robert Service
The Absinthe Drinkers
He's yonder, on the Cafe de la Paix, The little wizened Spanish man, I see him every day. He's sittng with his Pernod on his customary chair; He's staring at the passers with his customary stare.
love, competition, revenge, grudge
75 Years! My Time In Rhyme
FC 11 M-65
42
E.W. "Roy" Miller
Together Twenty-Five Years
It's almost twenty-five years now, or before long it will be; We took each other for better or rose, our hearts were filled with glee. We'd both been single for many a year, and ready to settle down; We agreed to "get hitched," packed our bags, eloped and just skipped town.
From Poison Creek to Redwater
FC 11 G-40
52
Kenneth Goss
Chapter Fifteen
Seems like where ever you go, you run into some character you never forget. One man I'll always remember was a man named Jarvis.
Poems from the Alamo Saloon
FOLK COLL 11 L-45
67
Paul Thomas Lillard
Difficult Things
The most difficult thing I ever had to do, and that was in the past,
difficult, bed pan, body cast
Cowboy Curmudgeon and Other Poems
FC 11 M-45
26
Wallace McRae
The Homestead House
The old homestead house with the door askew.
A Rancher's Writings
FC 11 S-07
44
Harold D. Sloan
My Thanks to You
The card you sent on Mother's day ...
Treasure Chest of Cowboy Songs
FC 11 T-08
26
The Tenderfoot
I thought that one day that just for fun, I'd see how cow punching was done
More Rhymes of a Ranch Hand
FC 11 L-06
43
Frank D. Lemon
Lost on the Range
Under the stars of a western sky.
Bell Ranch Glimpses
FC 11 E-01
51
Martha Downer Ellis
Winter Grass
Until the dry years came I never knew.
winter, grass, blue sky
Sky Humour
Sid Marty
FOLK COLL 11 M-68
96
Sid Marty
To Touch Once More
To touch once more these things I love Flower, branch and stem and be touched back Enclosed by the green heart of love
life, plants, death
Sittin' and A-Grinnin': A Collection of Works
Layle Bagley & Linda Merrill
FC 11 B-11
123
John H. Curtis
The Resurrection
Some dogs are just dogs while others are quite unique.