FOLK COLLECTION 11: The Skaggs Foundation Cowboy Poetry Collection

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

FC 11 P-36

30

Mike Puhallo

Horse Drawn Tour

Some might think it boring for Diamond and Pat to plod the same rounds every day. Their teamster turned tour guide, chats with the passengers, and points out the sights on the way.

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

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32

Mike Puhallo

The Hunter

The Highway Patrolman's out hunting, high risk for minimal pay. He thrills to the roar of his engine, as he hunts his fleet quarry all day, and busts all the truckers and cowboys, who happen to drive the same way!

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

FC 11 P-36

33

Mike Puhallo

Is This Global Warming?

The Canada Geese are pairing off, real early again this year. The ice is gone from the round corral, spring time must be near.

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

FC 11 P-36

34

Mike Puhallo

A Cowboy's Valentine

The cows have had their vitamins, and a shot of scour vaccine. The medicine kit has been restocked; the calf jack and chains are clean.

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

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35

Mike Puhallo

Lawnmowers

The bay mare's foal is ten days old, a pretty sorrel filly, it's a treat to watch her buck and play having fun and acting silly.

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

FC 11 P-36

36

Mike Puhallo

Canada Is

Canada is a poet's dream, a land so diverse and wide. It takes a lot of imagination, to see the other side.

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

FC 11 P-36

38

Mike Puhallo

Jose Tressierra

My name is Jose Tressierra, best bull-wacker on the Cariboo Trail. My wife Josephine and son Pablo wait for me at my cabin in Yale.

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

FC 11 P-36

41

Mike Puhallo

Louis Lebourdais, Smartest Man in the Cariboo

Louis Lebourdais, that Frenchman, was born gay in Paris, and he's the smartest guy, in the whole Cariboo as you will plainly see!

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

FC 11 P-36

42

Mike Puhallo

In Memory of Hilbert Joseph Deleeuw

After 86 years he's crossed the divide, the Lion of the bunchgrass has made his last ride.

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

FC 11 P-36

44

Mike Puhallo

Just Ten Days to Go

Now friend I wouldn't pull your leg, and I will not steer you wrong Groundhog Day will be a real big deal, before too very long!

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

FC 11 P-36

45

Mike Puhallo

Gumboot Season

It's Gumboot time in the valley as winter's icy grip, softened by the western breeze, finally starts to slip.

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

FC 11 P-36

45

Mike Puhallo

Almost. . .

March, always seem to me, to be the month of mud. Winter's pure white veil has rotted away, and left us with the crud!

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

FC 11 P-36

47

Mike Puhallo

A Rainy Day in May

It's still snowing on the summer range, so we haven't turned the cows out yet, and things around the home place, are just a little wet.

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

FC 11 P-36

48

Mike Puhallo

Gone Fishin'

Several deer had left their tracks in the wet sand by the water. So did at least a hundred geese, a coyote and an otter.

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

FC 11 P-36

50

Mike Puhallo

Tension

June arrives with clear blue skies, skinned knuckles and some pain, from repairing idle machinery- it's almost haying time again!

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

FC 11 P-36

51

Mike Puhallo

I Ain't Scared o' No Bugs

I checked the clock on my computer, when I started it today. The darn thing thinks it's February instead of the end of May.

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

FC 11 P-36

52

Mike Puhallo

December 31, 1999

It will be the biggest party in a thousand years, with fire works and champagne! Around the world we'll celebrate, and sing that "Auld" refrain.

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

FC 11 P-36

53

Mike Puhallo

Roadkill on the Information Highway

Now I've been trying to surf the world wide web, but I keep on fallin' in. Everything I've tried to write, is in the trash recycle bin.

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

FC 11 P-36

55

Mike Puhallo

Quietly Canadian

We started in the fur trade days, but most Americans don't have a clue. Why them trappers' gatherings, was called a Rendezvous!

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

FC 11 P-36

56

Mike Puhallo

Still Waiting in the Pumpkin Patch

You know it's about the twenty-first Halloween, Since I became a dad. I'm thinkin' back on all the costumes, and all the fun we've had.

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

FC 11 P-36

59

Mike Puhallo

A Cowboy Christmas

As he heads in from the feed-ground, In the first dim glow of dawn, The rest of the family is rising, one by one the house lights come on.

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

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60

Mike Puhallo

Christmas Wish 1999

Joy, Hope and Peace on Earth, Can't be purchased in a mall. There's really just one Christmas gift, that matters after all.

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

FC 11 P-36

61

Mike Puhallo

True Love

The hardest lesson in life to learn, is simply how to love. For most human beings, who use the word, don't know what they're speaking of!

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

FC 11 P-36

62

Mike Puhallo

Home From Winter Range

We gathered the winter range today, and brought the cattle in. The old cows still were fat as hogs, but the two-year-olds were thin.

Piled Higher and Deeper on the Cariboo Trail

FC 11 P-36

63

Mike Puhallo

Retired

Freedom is a goal, to which we all aspire, Yet so many tend to panic, when the time comes to retire.