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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
23391 RU Lazy 2? FC 11 N-15 7 A.G. Nelson Makin' The Ride I've witnessed some interestin' rides, In my days of bein' a cowboy; But this one takes first place In the unusual style category!
23392 RU Lazy 2? FC 11 N-15 11 A.G. Nelson A Simple Prayer It's a simple question, We all ask from time to time; What kind of a person, Have I become in my prime?
23393 RU Lazy 2? FC 11 N-15 15 A.G. Nelson The Chili Cookoff Once upon a county fair, In the midst of the chili cookers; I was chosen as a taste test judge, Me and two other on-lookers.
23394 RU Lazy 2? FC 11 N-15 19 A.G. Nelson The Greenhorn Once upon a calvin' season, When things were real hot -n- heavy; I started out through the field In my old beat up one-ton chevy.
23395 RU Lazy 2? FC 11 N-15 23 A.G. Nelson Methane Madness It wasn't too many years ago, When this feller with multiple degrees; Wrote a down right nasty editorial, That got all the cowfolk buzzin' like bees.
23396 RU Lazy 2? FC 11 N-15 27 A.G. Nelson Farrier School It was a beautiful spring mornin', A nice setting for this truthful yarn; I had just gathered the remuda, And had headed them to the barn.
23397 RU Lazy 2? FC 11 N-15 31 A.G. Nelson The Examination To recount this here experience, Is almost too embarrassin' to mention; But I simply write this in hopes, That it will relieve someone's tension.
23398 RU Lazy 2? FC 11 N-15 35 A.G. Nelson Colts and Sage Chickens Throughout my life I've noticed, There are certain things that don't mix; Such as water in your motor oil, That leaves your engine in quite a fix.
23399 RU Lazy 2? FC 11 N-15 39 A.G. Nelson Asserting Your Maleness Ya see, I'm a progressive cowpoke, And am open to anything that ain't wrong; And I heard a seminar was being offered, That would make weak men more strong.
23400 Those Drift'n Cowboy Ways FC 11 P-35 8 Chuck Prentiss The Camouflaged Rancher The front page of the Rustler said, "Proposed Zoning Law Criticized" The reaction of the ranchers Has left me plum surprised
23401 Those Drift'n Cowboy Ways FC 11 P-35 10 Chuck Prentiss Partly Cloudy "Partly Cloudy," said the weather man, "and tonight the moon is full." I should have known this mornin' that was just a lot of bull I suppose above those storm clouds there really was a moon
23402 Those Drift'n Cowboy Ways FC 11 P-35 12 Chuck Prentiss Cowgirl Teamwork Now my wife's good friend Kathy Is a savior when I need a hand When I need inside informatioin She knows what my wife has planned Our wives have been known to use teamwork
23403 Those Drift'n Cowboy Ways FC 11 P-35 14 Chuck Prentiss Black Friday We all know turnin' 40 Can be a bitter pill It can give a girl a feelin' She just went over the hill So for your 40th birthday I'm writin' you this verse To make your birthday a happy one
23404 Those Drift'n Cowboy Ways FC 11 P-35 15 Chuck Prentiss A Hard Lesson One night Fernond slipped off to town As husbands sometimes do he wound up down at the Palace Bar And didn't get home till two Now, milkin' time comes early
23405 Those Drift'n Cowboy Ways FC 11 P-35 17 Chuck Prentiss Bad Move Early last spring about brandin' time I was workin' for the old slash cross We was all saddled and standin' around Just waitin' on Jim the boss We seen he was sort of stand-offish
23406 Those Drift'n Cowboy Ways FC 11 P-35 20 Chuck Prentiss Quiet Tough I've had fellers tell me, about what they knew How tough they was, and all they could do With most anything, they was close to the best but they didn't show much, when put to the test
23407 Those Drift'n Cowboy Ways FC 11 P-35 21 Chuck Prentiss A Better Than Average Mom Now some of us have not been blessed with a sister or a brother but each and every one of us has been blessed by having a mother Now my Mom has been a good one
23408 Those Drift'n Cowboy Ways FC 11 P-35 24 Chuck Prentiss Stuck Truckin Buckaroo I got out of Uncle Sam's Navy in nineteen and seventy-one I was tired of chipped beef and gravy and the sort of work we done I figured to go back punchin' cattle
23409 The Last Roundup FC 11 B-61 1 Wilbur P. Ball First Roundups in Weld County Prose: Cattle roundups became a part of Weld County history soon after the first big cattle drives passed the Pawnee Buttes on the Old Texas Trail, and up Crow Creek
23410 The Last Roundup FC 11 B-61 5 Wilbur P. Ball The Decade of Cattle Empires Prose: During the development of the range cattle industry in the 1870's, nearly any man of ambition had relatively free and open opportunity to get started in cattle ranching.
23411 The Last Roundup FC 11 B-61 9 Wilbur P. Ball The Roundup of 1888 Prose: The Colorado Stockgrowers Association in Denver issued the following detailed instructions for the spring roundup of 1888 for District fNumber 11, including all of Weld County:
23412 The Last Roundup FC 11 B-61 13 Wilbur P. Ball Early Brands and Branding Prose: When the first herds of Texas Longhorn cattle were gathered for the drive to Colorado and other destinations farther north, the owners of the cattle marked each critter with a "road brand" consisting of
23413 The Last Roundup FC 11 B-61 19 Wilbur P. Ball The Roundups of the 1890's Prose: Andy Ross, a neighbor who owned the Seven Cross Ranch three miles north of Briggsdale, Colorado, from 1917 to 1942, was foreman for one or more of the Colorado Roundups
23414 The Last Roundup FC 11 B-61 25 Wilbur P. Ball The Prairie Fire Prose: There was a big spring on Gerry Creek located wouth of the Price homestead in the open, unfenced Section 23, Township 11 North and Range 64 West. It was an excellent watering place for range cattle,
23415 The Last Roundup FC 11 B-61 27 Wilbur P. Ball Chalk Bluffs Roundup Prose: A small two-day roundup was held during the early summer of 1905 in the Chalk Bluffs area that ended at the Steve McCoy Ranch.