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
Confessions of A Cowboy Poet
FC 11 C-52
68
Bob Christensen
Tribute
Thank God, he's a cowboy poet. I'm speaking of Baxter Black! He's the sultan of rhyme, at least in our time; he's way out in front of the pack. He's gave us a standard to shoot for, as travelers he is our north star.
West River Waltz: Western Poetry
FC 11 G-31
83
D. W. Groethe
Late One Evening'
It's one a' them nights when coyote howls
Dry Crik Rview: Summer-Fall 1993
John C. Dofflemyer
FC 11 D-20
12
Barbara Shirk Parish
Baby Of The Dust Bowl
Daughter -- stillborn -- 1983 -- buried in the ravaged earth her stone reads simply, Baby -- (She was our very first.) --
dared, name, grief, ravaged
Sensin' Somethin'
FC 11 D-19
26-27
John C. Dofflemyer
finally one
a cowman appreciates good times feed knee deep and sound thet rhymes bugs and birds on an uneasy wind known' soon she'll come to an end.
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
All This Way for the Short Ride
FC 11 Z-02
10
Paul Zarzyski
How the Lord Throwed-in with Mom to Make Me Quit the Broncs
Was my mother sayin' rosaries day and night.
The Big Roundup: Classic and Contemporary Poetry from CowboyPoetry.com
Margo Metegrano
FC 11 M-47
207
Flavis Bertrand
The Old Empty House
The Old Empty House stands alone on the prairie.
More Cow Country
FC 11 E-05
120
Tom Ellinwood
The Pale Copy
The holiday fiestas he.
fiesta, celebration, holiday
Bruce Kiskaddon Calendar Poems: 1951/2001
FC 11 K-20
7
Bruce Kiskaddon
It Can Happen
A man in a wagon a drivin' a team.
Rhymes of Today and Yesterday!
FC 11 G-17
35
June Brander Gilman
The Elk Heard
In many counties of Montana; Large herds of elk do reside.
West of East
FC 11 H-17
44
Harry Elmore Hurd
I Love These Shepherds
I love these shepherds on sage hills.
Basque, sheep, sheepherder, Nevada, lambs, ewes, coyote
Cowboy Poet
FC 11 W-03
29
Stephen R. Wilhelm
Pore Lil' Maverick
While I was ridin' th' range one day
Poetry of Skinny Rowland, Complete Works to 1993
Skinny Rowland
FOLK COLL 11 R-49
44
Skinny Rowland
The Roving Man
Now there was a roving man, who had traveled everywhere, he made his plans to leave a place, before arriving there.
wandering, travel, experience
Slow Smoke
FC 11 S-02
71
Lew Sarett
Words
He never flinched, and never a muscle stirred
Ballad of a Cheechako
FC 11 S-48
93
Robert W. Service
The Telegraph Operator
I will not wash my face.
Graining the Mare: The Poetry of Ranch Women
Teresa Jordan
FC 11 J-10
54
Gretel Ehrlich
For David
Then we feed the cattle with.
Poetry of Ranch Women
Cow Tracks on the Land
Lona Tankersley Burkhart
FC 11 B-66
107
Richard Smith
Trailin' Cows
I've followed them cattle Through everything from heat to snow. Sometimes they travel easy And sometimes they won't go.
Ranch Verses
FC 11 C-09
127
William Lawrence Chittenden
To the Memory of Gen. Sam Houston
Thy memory is blessed in this proud Southern land.
hero, Texas, patriot, pride, history
Chips of Thought: Poems, Lyrics and Ballads from the Heart
FC 11 T-02
12
Gene Taylor
The Trail to Abilene
To a little town in Kansas, they had finished the railroad.
Saddle Pals
FC 11 S-56
31
The Little Mohee
As I was walking for pleasure on day, I craved recreation as the day passed away
Open Range: Collected Poems (1: Rhymes of the Ranges, 1924)
Bill Siems
FC 11 K-24
Bruce Kiskaddon
Cowboys, Cattle, Horses, and Stuff
FC 11 B-65
33
T.L. Bush
Barley's Store
Old man Barley was a friend of mine, But I never really knew it at the time. We hung around the store when I was a kid, And listen to the cowboy things he did.
Muses Of The Ranges
FC 11 D-28
44
John C. Dofflemyer
Mounted
If a man is mounted long enough an' dodged his last demise, he gravitates to magic stuff, to myst'ry and surprise; where reason rests in timin' an'
separate, flavor, rider, outsider, computer, trust
Jesse Rogers' Song Collection and Souvenir from Old Mexico
Jesse Rogers
FC 11 R-32
23
You Give me your love and I'll give you Mine
Just at the close of a bright summer day
Rhymes o' a Driftin' Cowboy
FC 11 H-01
199
Chuck Haas
Sittin' Purty
`Taint so hard to keep a-smilin'.
life, strengths, weaknesses, woes, joys