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FOLK COLLECTION 11: The Skaggs Foundation Cowboy Poetry Collection

Date of Items: 1890-present
Register Prepared by: Randy Williams and Susan Gross, April 2004
Register Updated by: Randy Williams, 23 December 2009
Excel database transfered to MYSQL and uploaded (replacing PHP data): Colin Jackson, Fall 2010
MYSQL database updated: Randy Williams, January 2012
Linear Feet:20

Historical Note & Provenance

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.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of 20 linear feet of books on cowboy poetry, including press and self published works. The collection can be accessed through USU Libraries online catalog.


As well, poem titles and keywords found in each book in the collection are included in the database below. To use, type in the search term. Tip: Try and use an uncommon word from the poem to ensure less "hits." For instance, if you enter "boots" you will get many hits; but if you enter "bones" you will most liley get fewer "hits" or poems and find the item you seek faster. To return to the search page, click "home" at the bottom of the page.

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Poetry table.

First Previous Next Last
IDBook TitleComposerIndexPagesAuthorPoem TitleFirst LinesKeywords
22602 Drift Wood FC 11 B-59 66 Lucy S. Burnham Love Love is to life as the fragrance of a rose, Love to a plant the warmth of healing sun, Love that walks the long way with a friend, A vital need till human race is run.
22603 Drift Wood FC 11 B-59 67 Lucy S. Burnham Age And Youth When very young I looked on age As being the prized goal, Now that I'm old I can look back Quite calmly on the whole.
22604 Drift Wood FC 11 B-59 67 Lucy S. Burnham Recompense I love the winter sunset hour, a fire burning bright, The cozy comfort of my room a-shutting out the night.
22605 Drift Wood FC 11 B-59 69 Lucy S. Burnham Success The nearest of kin to success is work, And their generous brother time And the path to the home of success is far It is rugged and hard to climb.
22606 Drift Wood FC 11 B-59 70 Lucy S. Burnham My Mind, My Kingdom My mind my kingdom and here I dwell, A hermit soul none know me well, My sober thoughts do laugh and flout, Dare me to write them and bring them out.
22607 Drift Wood FC 11 B-59 71 Lucy S. Burnham A Song Of Courage Smiling out of my pain, I have written a little song, You make take it away with you, It will never lead you wrong.
22608 Drift Wood FC 11 B-59 71 Lucy S. Burnham What Has Age Got To Do With Death? What has age got to do with death? The young, the brave, the free, The old and weary pass away When God wills it so to be.
22609 Drift Wood FC 11 B-59 72 Lucy S. Burnham Untitled I pray thee Lord that while I live I shall spend my days in usefulness, May I stand ready Lord to give A helping hand in kindliness.
22610 Drift Wood FC 11 B-59 73 Lucy S. Burnham Counting The Years "How old are you, grandma?" her voice was low, With haunting accents of long ago, When her mother asked in the self same way, As she paused in her play, so young and gay.
22611 Drift Wood FC 11 B-59 74 Lucy S. Burnham The House Of The Lord (Dedicated to the Mesa Temple) Tread Lightly This is the House of the Lord, This is a place of prayer, In it shall be no unclean thought, No sin shall enter there.
22612 Drift Wood FC 11 B-59 75 Lucy S. Burnham (To Our Boys In Uniform) There's something in a uniform That sets our boys apart A grace and manly purpose That tugs at my old heart.
22613 Drift Wood FC 11 B-59 76 Lucy S. Burnham A Trail So Old And Winding A trail so old and winding, Leads on thru a meadow of grass, To a house neath the trees still guarding, The dreams of a bare-foot lass.
22614 Drift Wood FC 11 B-59 77 Lucy S. Burnham My Baseball Hero I've been flirting something awful All this glad, hot summer long, With a dark eyed base ball player Young and handsome and so strong.
22615 Drift Wood FC 11 B-59 78 Lucy S. Burnham Spring I felt it in the cool fresh air this morning, The intangible sweet herald of the spring, I sensed it as I opened wide my window, And suddenly the birds began to sing.
22616 More Horsin' Around FC 11 C-54 1 Stu Campbell Buckaroo Prose: I was workin' out in Nevada on a good cow outfit with some real good hands and a good string of horses. There was about ten of us buckaroos, counting the reps from other outfits.
22617 More Horsin' Around FC 11 C-54 5 Stu Campbell Rustler! Prose: Back in the old days, I guess a feller could get in a lot of trouble branding his neighbor's stock with his own iron. From what the old-timers tell me, when a feller was caught red-handed, if he wasn't shot trying to get away,
22618 More Horsin' Around FC 11 C-54 7 Stu Campbell Christmas Joy Prose: Last Christmas, the most practical gift I received was a pair of long johns. This set of winter underwear was regular "old time" style, one piece, from neck to toe with buttons up the front and back.
22619 More Horsin' Around FC 11 C-54 8 Stu Campbell The Makins' of a Good Horse Prose: At one dude outfit I worked on, they didn't own any horses. They leased them from a horse trader up around Riverton, Wyoming. Most years they'd get the same horses back in the spring
22620 More Horsin' Around FC 11 C-54 12 Stu Campbell Just a Kid's Horse Prose: I was sittin' over a cup of coffee out in Nevada, out of a job and wonderin' what I would do next. The outfit I was workin' on let all their buckaroos go, promisin' us a job when the fall gather started.
22621 More Horsin' Around FC 11 C-54 14 Stu Campbell Runnin' Backwards Prose: I was workin' on an outfit that was located right in the middle of some real good hay growin' country. The outfit I worked for run a couple of hundred cows an' sold surplus hay.
22622 More Horsin' Around FC 11 C-54 16 Stu Campbell Fancy Broomtails Prose: I don't think there's a cowboy alive that doesn't like to run horses. I know I do. On the dude outfits I worked on, I'd generally bring the horses in on a run.
22623 More Horsin' Around FC 11 C-54 19 Stu Campbell A Familiar Habit Prose: I buckarooed out in Nevada for some time on quite a few different cattle outfits, some good, some not so good. I enjoyed the work and liked seein' new an' different country
22624 More Horsin' Around FC 11 C-54 21 Stu Campbell Goin' Home Prose: A loose cinch has caused plenty of cowboys a lot of problems. Most of the time, a feller will ride with a cinch just tight enough to keep the saddle in place under normal conditions.
22625 More Horsin' Around FC 11 C-54 22 Stu Campbell Chocolate Chip Prose: Runnin' a dude ranch can be a pretty good job, as long as the ranch is set up to handle the guests. But when the ranch doesn't have the facilities to handle dudes, guests or freeloaders can be a problem and a nuisance.
22626 More Horsin' Around FC 11 C-54 24 Stu Campbell Drifter Prose: Drifter was a good lookin' sorrel horse that come to the dude outfit early in June. From his looks, I figured him to be 'bout half Arab and half Quarter.