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
From Poison Creek to Redwater
FC 11 G-40
57
Kenneth Goss
Chapter Sixteen
Prose: Clayton Thompson was a farmer for a while. In fact, he done a lot of different things. It seems he was good at most everything he put his hand to.
Breezy Western Verse
FC 11 A-11
94
James Barton Adams
Father Time's Partiality
I vividly recall the day long, long ago, Pauline.
Western Poems
FC 11 R-02
15
Col. Charles D. Randolph "Buckskin Bill"
Buckskin Bill on Vacation
My Vacation is approachin'.
Dry Crik Review (Elko Commemorative Double Issue): winter/spring 1994, 2 copies
John C. Dofflemyer
FC 11 D-20
37
Shadd Piehl
Buffalo Bull Spring Song
Alongside you (And no other) I have stood And followed For ten days Roaming the earth. For ten days!
The Collected Verse of A.B. Paterson: containing The Man from Snowy River
FC 11 P-08
16
A.B. "Banjo" Paterson
Our New Horse
The boys had come back from the races
Roped and Tied
FC 11 W-11
26
Mary Mabel Wirries
Who Come No More
Dark-eyed children at my door
75 Years! My Time In Rhyme
FC 11 M-65
99
E.W. "Roy" Miller
Cuttin' Corners
Now I've been a "bargain hunter" I guess all my life; and rising costs for all of us, add stress and strain and strife! And to avoid a marked up price, portions have been cut; You buy a box of cereal and it's only half full but just look on the bright side..when buying vitamin and pills; You also get free cotton,
Songs of the Cattle Trail and Cow Camp
John A. Lomax
FC 11 L-13
112
The Cowboys' Christmas Ball
'Way out in Western Texas, where the Clear Fork's waters flow.
Ballads of the Black Hills
FC 11 G-11
87
Charles P. "Soldier" Green
A Locoed Ride
`Twas by her old adobe home.
bronc busting, bronco, riding, sing, song, busted up
The Bronco Busters Song Album
The Bronco Busters
FC 11 B-32
2
"Texas Ruby" Owens and "Zeke" Clements
An Old Man's Story
You ask me to tell you the reason, the tears in my eyes never leave.
Cowboy Poetry (Herald Journal, 6 June 1985)
Patrick Williams
FC 11 C-44
Scott McKendrick
As I Look Back
Golden Thoughts of Arizona Poems, Legends, and Ballads
FC 11 T-03
5
Gene Taylor
The Desert Water Hole
I want to tell a story of a lonely little desert scene,
On the Ranch
FC 11 J-20
19
Billy James
Last Trip
My last trip into town Was a bust all aroun' Because my ol' Ford pickup got stuck, So I saddled my horse; I was thinking, or course,
Verse for Aussie Children
Carmel Randle
FC 11 R-27
17
Karen Emmott
Great Aussie Fly
They stick to your eyes, they crawl up your nose.
Between Earth and Sky - Poets of the Cowboy West
Anne Heath Widmark
FC 11 B-40
100
Shadd Piehl
Towards Horses
Near Castle Butte, the clouds hang in wavy mare's-tails.
Crazy Quilt: A Patchwork of New and Collected Poems
FC 11 E-21
35
Elizabeth Ebert
Old Blue And The Pickup Cowgirl
I see you look askance and sneer at me As you ride by upon your fiery steed, To lope with ease across the grassy plain, Amaze companions with some roping deed.
Ever and Always I Shall Love the Land
FC 11 G-01
81
Clell Goebel Gannon
Late October Sunset
Before me all the colors of the flowers.
beauty, lowers, solitude, autumn, summer
From a Cowboy's Point of View
FC 11 H-52
5
Dick Hays
Button
Th' Button, he's a cowhand, though a little premature. He's gettin' lots of pointers; He'll make a hand fer sure.
West of East
FC 11 H-17
128
Harry Elmore Hurd
The Wind and I
When trumpets blast and white waves dash.
blow, wind, storm
Sittin' and A-Grinnin': A Collection of Works
Layle Bagley & Linda Merrill
FC 11 B-11
120
John Curtis
Table Meat
The terrible depression of the thirties was in full swing and we, a family of six boys and three girls were scratchin' out a living by panning gold in the Mother Lodes country of Shasta County, California.
Hoofprints Through the Sage
FC 11 K- 27
24
E.J. Kirchoff
Elimination of the Family Farm
Old Bill let out a snort that You could heard a mile away. "Sure raises up your dander What some fellers have to say," Said Old Bill as he found his Climax.
Stubby Pencil Poems of Rural Livin' Doin's
FC 11 G-41
17
G.B. Griffith
Move On
Mustage stud was at the outer wire fence. He had bad intentions, His mood was as dark as his all black muted hide.
stud, horse, pride
Cowboy Poetry: Tracks That Won't Blow Out
FC 11 O-10
170
Ray Owens
Where is Heaven?
Where is Heaven? folks have asked; i guess, since time began. That question's been debated by some educated men. It's a question that I've pondered some, near as long as I've been livin'
For Cowboys, Campers an' Common Folk
FC 11 H-19
44
Charlie Hunt
The Bull Rider
I'd paid my dues in the old R.C.A.
gate, bull riding, throwed, trampled, trompled, pulling gate, rodeo
Dry Crik Review (Double Environmental Issue): fall/winter 1992/93, 2 copies
John C. Dofflemyer
FC 11 D-20
92
Jim Green
Hired Guns
All night long they lay forted on the bale stack wrapped in parkas and robes against the driving snow.