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.
Search:
Poetry table.
First Previous Next Last| ID | Book Title | Composer | Index | Pages | Author | Poem Title | First Lines | Keywords |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1252 | Bell Ranch Glimpses | FC 11 E-01 | 131 | Martha Downer Ellis | The Bell | Whatever the sorrow. | land | |
| 1253 | Bell Ranch Glimpses | FC 11 E-01 | 132 | Martha Downer Ellis | The River | The wild Red River has been tamed by the dam. | river, water, dam, progress, time | |
| 1254 | Bell Ranch Glimpses | FC 11 E-01 | 133 | Martha Downer Ellis | River Bluffs | Once, from a ridge in the Perra. | phantom, city, river | |
| 1255 | Bell Ranch Glimpses | FC 11 E-01 | 134 | Martha Downer Ellis | Tomorrow | After we are gone other men. | time, future, endurance | |
| 1256 | Bell Ranch Glimpses | FC 11 E-01 | 135 | Martha Downer Ellis | Bill Lane | Bill Lane flew over the Bell. | land, ranch, Bell Ranch | |
| 1257 | Bell Ranch Glimpses | FC 11 E-01 | 136 | Martha Downer Ellis | Never Let Us Think | Never let us think that Waddingham or Montoya. | Indians, past, shelter, future, land, generation | |
| 1258 | Bell Ranch Glimpses | FC 11 E-01 | 137 | Martha Downer Ellis | Horse Trails | There beside the Bull Trap fence. | trail, future | |
| 1259 | Bell Ranch Glimpses | FC 11 E-01 | 138 | Martha Downer Ellis | These Items | Don't tell me I must have made them up. | land | |
| 1260 | Bell Ranch Glimpses | FC 11 E-01 | 139 | Martha Downer Ellis | Bell Ranch | There are those. | land | |
| 1261 | Rope and Pan | FC 11 E-02 | 1 | Martha Downer Ellis | A Rope | I saw a rope down town today. | rope, pickup, hands | |
| 1262 | Rope and Pan | FC 11 E-02 | 2 | Martha Downer Ellis | In Lovington Cemetery | Under the sod the ranchers lie. | rancher, grave, cemetery, windmill, water, comfort | |
| 1263 | Rope and Pan | FC 11 E-02 | 3 | Martha Downer Ellis | Summer Day | Today at noon. | heat, summer, sun | |
| 1264 | Rope and Pan | FC 11 E-02 | 4 | Martha Downer Ellis | Heading Home | I've been away much too long. | home, railroad, train, New Mexico | |
| 1265 | Rope and Pan | FC 11 E-02 | 8 | Martha Downer Ellis | The Map Rock | The Map Rock lies flat and square. | petroglyphs, Indians | |
| 1266 | Rope and Pan | FC 11 E-02 | 14 | Martha Downer Ellis | Chasing Showers | We ran to see where the rain had fallen. | rain, dirt, dust, dry, drought | |
| 1267 | Rope and Pan | FC 11 E-02 | 17 | Martha Downer Ellis | Drouth Relief | I can hear that rifle now. | death, drought, calves, 1934 | |
| 1268 | Rope and Pan | FC 11 E-02 | 20 | Martha Downer Ellis | July Rain | And now the ranch is green again. | rain, water, grass, relief | |
| 1269 | Rope and Pan | FC 11 E-02 | 21 | Martha Downer Ellis | Night Rain | A slow night rain is falling. | rain, water, appreciation, peace | |
| 1270 | Rope and Pan | FC 11 E-02 | 22 | Martha Downer Ellis | Sunday Clothes | Oh the green young grass is rising. | rain, restoration, earth | |
| 1271 | Rope and Pan | FC 11 E-02 | 23 | Martha Downer Ellis | The Southwest Wind | The southwest wind just blows and blows. | wind, weather | |
| 1272 | Rope and Pan | FC 11 E-02 | 25 | Martha Downer Ellis | Ranching | He who rides the rainfall. | ranching, change, weather, rain | |
| 1273 | Rope and Pan | FC 11 E-02 | 26 | Martha Downer Ellis | Goodbye to the Ranch | I saw him loping away alone. | goodby, farewell, town, unhappiness | |
| 1274 | Rope and Pan | FC 11 E-02 | 27 | Martha Downer Ellis | A Tinge of Green | It's mid-September now. | rain, grass, green, winter | |
| 1275 | Rope and Pan | FC 11 E-02 | 28 | Martha Downer Ellis | A Farmer in Spring | As I was nearing town today. | spring, ditch, weed burning, farming, water, hope, optimism | |
| 1276 | Rope and Pan | FC 11 E-02 | 29 | Martha Downer Ellis | Merry-Go-Round | Round and `round and up and down. | change, ranching |