FOLK COLLECTION 11g

The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering Collection

Historical Note

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Provenance

The materials in the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering Collection date from 1985 (when the first Cowboy Poetry Gathering was hosted in Elko, Nevada) to the present time. Throughout the years, Fife Folklore Archives faculty and staff have deposited their programs and posters and other NCPG generated materials to the Fife Folklore Archives. In 1993 Randy Williams organized the items into a file collection. In 2005, Ashley Purser reviewed the programs and sorted them by year and boxed and foldered them and created this register. In August of 2005, Randy Williams added the NCPG posters to the collection and updated the register.

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Scope and Content

The materials in the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering Collection include brochures, programs, newspapers, posters, and other materials distributed at the Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada, hosted by the Western Folklife Center (1985 to present). The materials are housed in acid-free archival boxes (or map cabinet in the case of the posters) and folders in USU's Special Collections and Archives.

The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering Collection is sorted into two series:

SERIES I: Brochures, Programs, Newspapers, is housed in archival boxes in five year groupings and divided into separate acid-free folders by year (with each item noted therein).

SERIES II: Posters, is housed in a map cabinet in an acid-free folder.

To access the collection a patron must have the following information: collection number, series number, box or cabinet number, drawer number (if applicable), folder number and item or image number. The materials do not circulate and are available in USU's Special Collections and Archives.

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Register

SERIES I

BOX   1:   1985-1990

Folder 1:   First Cowboy Poetry Gathering: Cowboy Poetry, Music, Exhibits and Films, 31 January - 2 February 1985

Item 1:   Brochure (2 copies)

Item 2:   Program (2 copies), including

Articles: "Welcome to the Cowboy Poetry Gathering," Hal Cannon; “Open Range” Melvin L. Whipple; “Cowboy Poetry: The First Hundred Years, James Griffith; "Poetry of Cowboys," Guy Logsdon; "Cowboy Poetry: The Right Place at the Right Time," Hal Cannon

Poems: “The Sierry Petes or Tying the Knots in the Devil's Tail," Gail Gardner; "To Be a Top Hand," Georgie Sicking; "A Rider, A Roper and a Hell'uva Windmill Man," Baxter Black; "Reincarnation," Wallace McRae

Participants: Everett Brisendine, Duane Reece, Ross Knox, Glenn Ohrlin, Dave Ericsson, Nyle Henderson, Baxter Black, Roy Green, Owen Barton, Bud Bartram, Dick Gibford, Bob Schild, Bill Simpson, Gordon Eastman, Wallace McRae, Ken Trowbridge, Gwen Peterson, Ernie Fanning, Waddie Mitchell, Larry Schutte, Randy Stowell, Georgie Sicking, Walt James, Jack Walther, Bill Black, Sonny Hancock, Cecil Moore, Bill Lowman, Jo Casteel, Roy Miller, Owen Johnson, Fred W. Barton, Harry Taylor, Buck Crofts, Blondell Whitehead, Irene Pecoraro, Melvin Whipple, Jim Hofer, Yula Sue Whipple Hunting, Ray Lashley, Vern Mortensen.

Item 3:   Newspaper Article: "Get Along, Little Doggerels" Newsweek, 11 February, 1985

Folder 2:   Second Cowboy Poetry Gathering 30 January-1 February 1986

Item 1:   Program (2 copies), including

Articles: “S. Omar Barker, a Tribute,” Marc Simmons; “Cowboy Poetry and the Modern World," Hal Cannon; “Cowboy Poetry: Drawing the Line," Mike Korn

Poems: “Bear Ropin’ Buckaroo,” S. Omar Barker; “A Jokers Pay," Rod McQueary

Participants: Everett Brisendine, L. Vess Quinlin, Ross Knox, Slim Kite, Earl Rogers, Gene Jordan, Gene Randels, Jim Bollars, Glenn Ohrlin, Nyle Henderson, Eugene Ferguson, Jesse Smith, Bill Simpson, Colen H. Sweeten, Jr., June Brander Gilman, Bob Schild, Bill Sullivan, Owen Barton, Jim Ross, George Shawver, Bob Ross, Bob Johnston, Jack Walther, Georgie Sicking, Walter “Bimbo” Cheney, Ernie Fanning, Waddie Mitchell, Randy Stowell, Brian Morris, Keith Avery, Larry Schutte, D. E. “Gene” Waters, Sunny Hancock, Jon Bowerman, Bill Lowman, Sam Wilson, Jan Swan Gifford, Barney Nelson, Charles Hunt, Melvin Whipple, Joel Nelson, Lucky Whipple, Finley H. Bayles, R. W. “Swede” Miller, Clarence Bundy, Jim Hofer, Jon I. Pentz, Don Bell, F. Allan Brewer, Fred Barton

Folder 3:   Third Cowboy Poetry Gathering 29-31 January, 1987

Item 1:   Brochure

Item 2:   Program (2 copies), including

Articles: “Cowboy Poetry and Traditional Craftsmanship,” Hal Cannon; “Bruce Kiskaddon: Cowboy Poet,” Hal Cannon “How You Came by What You Got,” Kim Stafford; “Cowboy Poetry as History,” Blanton Owen;“The Cowboy Hero and the Elko West,” Charles Greenhaw and Sharron Racine

Poems: “Between the Lines,” Bruce Kiskaddon; “The Prized Possession,” Joel Nelson; “Rain on the Range,” S. Omar Barker

Participants: Vess Quinlan, Everett Brisendine, Rolf Flake, Ross Knox, Slim Kite, Glenn Ohrlin, Billy Fouts, John Holman, Jesse Smith, Bill May, Holger Albrethson, Baxter Black, Nyle Henderson, Gene Randels, Luther “Corky” Williams, Donna Erickson, David Chadwick, Colen Sweeten, Bob Schild, Bill Simpson, Ruth Knudtson, Paul Zarzyski, Wallace McRae, Tom Eaton, Howard Parker, Bob Johnston, John Ewing, Monte Reichenberg, Richard Smith, Barbara Hall, Ernie Fanning, Brian Morris, Connie Satterthwaite, Rick Taylor, Kent Reeves, Bill Lowman, Jim Thomas, Jon Bowerman, Bill Black, Lona Burkhart, Jo Casteel, Roy Miller, Sam Brown, Buster “Punch” McLaury, Joel Nelson, Bob Christensen, Hamilton Teichert, Scott McKendrick, Kent Peterson, Claude Wennergren, Donald “Bud” Stewart, Charles Kortes, Scott Redington, Harry Taylor

Folder 4:   Fourth Cowboy Poetry Gathering 28-30 January, 1988

Item 1:   Draft of Schedule for the forth Cowboy Poetry Gathering

Folder 5:   Fifth Cowboy Poetry Gathering 25-28 January, 1989

Item 1:   Brochure

Item 2:   Program (2 copies), including

Articles: “The Gathering is Five,” Hal Cannon; “The Chores of Grief and Delight,” Kim Stafford; “Badger Clark: ‘Placed So Well,’” Elaine Thatcher; “Before the Gathering,” Sarah Campsey Sweetwater; Australian Exchange at 1990 Cowboy Poetry Gathering

Poems: “Ridin,’” Badger Clark; “A Cowboy’s Prayer,” Badger Clark; “The Gatherin’ at the Gate,” Jon Bowerman

Participants: Raphael Cristy, Baxter Black, Red Steagall, The Sunset Trio, Neil Abbott, Ed Brown, Rick Taylor, John Dofflemyer, Jim Ross, Gene Jordan, Leonard Vasquez, Gary McMahan, Allen Schattle, Gene Randels, Lloyd Gerber, T.L. Bush, Bill Hirschi, Martin Bergin, Kevin Tester, Gwen Petersen, Randy Rieman, Howard Parker, Carl “Skinny” Rowland, Rod McQueary, Rodney Nelson, Paul Schmitt, Richard Smith, Eric Sprado, Charlotte Thompson, Bob Dennis, Kay Kelly, Blaine Nordvold, Bill Wood, Don Kennington, Allen Cox, Kent Petersen, Buck Ramsey, Ray Lashley, Greg Badure, Swede Miller, Tommy Thomas, Bill Larsen, Scott Redington

Item 3:   A Gathering of Gear: Cowboy Poetry Gathering Gear List, 1989 A list of exhibits and craftspeople with their contact information

Item 4:   The Cowboys Shopping List (2 copies)

Item 5:   Fifth Annual Cowboy Poetry Gathering Cassettes; An order form for cassette recordings of the 1986, 1987, 1988 and 1989 gatherings.

Folder 6:   Sixth Cowboy Poetry Gathering January 24-27 January, 1990

Item 1:   Flyer advertising the sixth Cowboy Poetry Gathering (2 copies)

Item 2:   Program (2 copies), including

Articles: “Prospecting the Outback: Australian Journals,” Hal Cannon; “The Stockman and the Cowboy,” Roger Steele; "'They ain’t very much I would change:' The Life of Curley Fletcher,” Hal Cannon; “The Open Question” Vess Quinlan; “The Other Side of the Story” Jan Roush; “A Gathering of Gear” Waddie Mitchell; "The Australian Stockman: An exhibit of photographs and gear from Australia’s cowboy tradition"

Poems: “The Packhorse Drover,” Bruce Forbes Simpson; “The Cowboy’s Soliloquy,” Curley Fletcher; “The Women of the West,” George Essex Evans; "Waltzing Matilda," A.B. "Banjo" Paterson; “Wild Buckaroo,” Curley Fletcher

Participants: Don Edwards, Tom Hayden, Michael Martin Murphey, Ernie Sites, Ian Tyson, Bill Wood, Patsy Montana, Gail Steiger, Sons of the San Joaquin, Charlotte Thompson, Kelly Rubrecht, Noel Nelson, Mark Acker, Nancy Kern, Sally Bates, Dick Gibford, Tony Ilardi, Kim Strong, Darrell Arnold, Virginia Bennett, Vess Quinlan, Howard Norskog, Colen Sweeten, Lisa Volkman, Wyman Griffith, Afton Bloxham, Jim Ross, Sandy Seaton, Marie Smith, Gary Yates, Howard Parker, Stan Lehman, Rod McQueary, Paul Schmitt, Richard Smith, Gary Morton, Ron Scott, John Underwood, Bill Lowman, Jody Strand, Lowell Long, Leon Flick, Steve Rone, Jim Thomas, Ray Hanzlik, Lyle Newman, Dennis Gaines, Barney Nelson, Buck Ramsey, Bob Urry, Pete Cameron, Kent Stockton, Jan Swan Wood

Item 3:   The Cowboys' Shopping List (2 copies)

BOX   2:   1991-1995

Folder 1:   Seventh Cowboy Poetry Gathering 30 January -2 February 1991

Item 1:   Program (2 copies), including

Articles: “Walking the Hogbacks, Learning to See: or, Why I Write What I Write,” Teresa Jordan; “Hispanic Roots of the Cowboys of the Americas,” Richard W. Slatta; “A Gathering of Gear,” Jeremiah Watt

Poems: "Invisible Cook," Audrey Hankins; “Past Carin,’” Henry Lawson; “Limerick,” Gwen Peterson

Participants: John Hollis, Sourdough Slim, Flying J Wranglers, Michael Martin Murphey, Mike Logan, Sunny Hancock, Don Edwards, Wallace McRae, Buck Ramsey, Dennis Gaines, Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Bill Larsen, Dave Stanley, Deseret String Band, Jeanne Thompson, Wendy Thompson, Tom Easton, Cain Thomas, Stella Hughes, Tim O'Brien, Jo Casteel, Jesse Smith, Sons of the San Joaquin, Clay Lindley, Bryn Thiessen, Don Wudel, Sally Harper Bates, Audrey Hankins, Ross Knox, Owen Badgett, Jim Ross, Virginia Bennett, M. Timothy Nolting, Vess Quinlan, Colen Sweeten, Tom McBeth, Arnold Hokanson, Marie W. Smith, Paul Zarzyski, Howard Parker, Waddie Mitchell, Kay Kelley, J.W. Beeson, Larry McWhorter, Elizabeth Ebert, J.B. Allen, Enid Morris, Joel Nelson, Reg Steagall, Dan Bradshaw, Max R. Godfrey, Bob Urry, Dick Warwick, Terry Henderson, Tina Burke Willis, Bill Wood

Item 2:   A Gathering of Gear: Cowboy Poetry Gathering, 1991; A list of exhibits and craftspeople with their contact information

Item 3:   1991 Cowboy Poetry Gathering Photos by Annie Hatch (2 roles: one color; one black and white, with negatives)

Item 4:   Copy of newspaper clipping: "At Cowboy Poetry Gathering: Romance and Reality of the West," Judy B. Rollins,

The Salt Lake Tribune, Sunday, January 27, 1991, page 6W.

Item 5:   Newspaper: "Cowboy Poetry Gathering," Elko Daily Free Press, Tuesday, 29 January, 1991

Item 6:   Folklife Conservancy News: Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Spring 1991