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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 201 | Outdoors, Faith, Fun and Other Poems | FC 11 B-02 | 28 | Elliott S. Barker | Dream Prompters | Some dreams that we have are real hard to explain, To figure them out almost drives us insane. | electric blanket, dream, | |
| 202 | Outdoors, Faith, Fun and Other Poems | FC 11 B-02 | 29 | Elliott S. Barker | Ramifications | The ram ran off of a high, high cliff; And landed square on his head ka-biff. | ewe, U-turn, humor, sheep | |
| 203 | Outdoors, Faith, Fun and Other Poems | FC 11 B-02 | 30 | Elliott S. Barker | The Lion Hunter | A lion's been there, I see his fresh scrape, And dogs are all off on his trail in full cry. | mountain lion, dog | |
| 204 | Outdoors, Faith, Fun and Other Poems | FC 11 B-02 | 31 | Elliott S. Barker | A Good Example | My wife and I took a horseback fishing trip, Our granddaughter, Cindy, went along. | litterbug | |
| 205 | Outdoors, Faith, Fun and Other Poems | FC 11 B-02 | 29 | Elliott S. Barker | When Your Number is Called | I am inherently afraid to fly. | fear of flying, death, humor | |
| 206 | Outdoors, Faith, Fun and Other Poems | FC 11 B-02 | 32 | Elliott S. Barker | Grace or Invocation | Oh, Lord, Creator of heaven and earth and all things therein and thereon, we ask Thy blessing upon this food for the nourishment of our bodies. | prayer, religion | |
| 207 | Outdoors, Faith, Fun and Other Poems | FC 11 B-02 | 33 | Elliott S. Barker | Our Part in Prayer | At eight, to set a fish line out, I taught my son, And twice when we returned we'd caught a splendid one. | fishing, bait, hook | |
| 208 | Outdoors, Faith, Fun and Other Poems | FC 11 B-02 | 34 | Elliott S. Barker | Why Do I Believe in God? | Just why do I believe in God, you ask. | religion, belief | |
| 209 | Outdoors, Faith, Fun and Other Poems | FC 11 B-02 | 35 | Elliott S. Barker | Learn to Live with Nature | America, a land or rich resources, Was one vast, lovely, pristine wilderness; Until the white man came, with all his forces, And conquered her with shameful wastefulness. | conservation, natural resources | |
| 210 | Buckaroo Ballads | FC 11 B-04 | 11 | S. Omar Barker | Jest Plain Ol' Cowboy! | He wears a sixgun, cusses cows, Gits drunk an' raises Hades -- But in a crowded bus he bows; An' gives his seat to ladies. | cowboy code | |
| 211 | Buckaroo Ballads | FC 11 B-04 | 12 | S. Omar Barker | The Man on Hossback | In summer or spring, boys, in winter or fall, A feller on foot, boys, ain't no man at all! | cowboy | |
| 212 | Buckaroo Ballads | FC 11 B-04 | 13 | S. Omar Barker | Free Rider | Spurs for my heels, a pinto horse, and knee-rub-bed saddle leather, A prairie trail for easy loping speed, Chaps for my legs, a rope to swing -- what matter wealth or weather? | gear, spurs, horse, saddle, leather | |
| 213 | Buckaroo Ballads | FC 11 B-04 | 15 | S. Omar Barker | Hot Ir'n! | The thumpin' sound o' hosses' hoofs, the clack o' runnin' cows, The song o' loopin' lassos on the swing, The smell o' cedar fire, an' then to make yer pulses rouse. | branding iron | |
| 214 | Buckaroo Ballads | FC 11 B-04 | 26 | S. Omar Barker | The Cycle of Sudden Death | "And Canna begot Zidon--" so old Hebrew cycles ran: Out in the West where hate bred hate each killer got his man. | dug his grave too small, John Jones, Ollinger, Billy the Kid, Bonney, Pat Garrett, murder, killing | |
| 215 | Buckaroo Ballads | FC 11 B-04 | 25 | S. Omar Barker | One Reason | Some envies million-heirs an' dudes, An' even office clerks, Who draws a lot of money fer; The little time they works. | punching cattle, occupation, income tax | |
| 216 | Buckaroo Ballads | FC 11 B-04 | 24 | S. Omar Barker | What It Takes to Make One | Oh, I am jack of many trades, the master of but one, And folks that knows the nature of my callin', Can understand just how my work ain't never through nor done. | cowboy, occupation | |
| 217 | Cowboy Poetry: Classic Rhymes by S. Omar Barker (1894-1985) | Jodie and Bob Phillips | FC 11 B-44 | 15 | S. Omar Barker | Tall Man Standing | This is a song that the night birds sing; As the phantom herds trail by. | |
| 218 | Cowboy Poetry: Classic Rhymes by S. Omar Barker (1894-1985) | Jodie and Bob Phillips | FC 11 B-44 | 16 | S. Omar Barker | The Tie-Fast Man | This is the way of the tie-fast men, Where the unpenned cattle graze. | |
| 219 | Cowboy Poetry: Classic Rhymes by S. Omar Barker (1894-1985) | Jodie and Bob Phillips | FC 11 B-44 | 17 | S. Omar Barker | Cowboy Ridin' | I've rode where it's wet, I've rode where it's dry, I've rode the low country and also the high. | |
| 220 | Cowboy Poetry: Classic Rhymes by S. Omar Barker (1894-1985) | Jodie and Bob Phillips | FC 11 B-44 | 18 | S. Omar Barker | Pants Polisher | They asked me "What's a saddle?" | |
| 221 | Cowboy Poetry: Classic Rhymes by S. Omar Barker (1894-1985) | Jodie and Bob Phillips | FC 11 B-44 | 20 | S. Omar Barker | Big Windies | They asked me "What's a windy?" | |
| 222 | Cowboy Poetry: Classic Rhymes by S. Omar Barker (1894-1985) | Jodie and Bob Phillips | FC 11 B-44 | 23 | S. Omar Barker | Sometimes Serious | There ain't no other breed of man around the world and back; That jokes as free as cowboys do, but still it is a fact. | |
| 223 | Cowboy Poetry: Classic Rhymes by S. Omar Barker (1894-1985) | Jodie and Bob Phillips | FC 11 B-44 | 24 | S. Omar Barker | Cowboy's Complaint | I wouldn't be a cowboy for a skunk-boat full of gold! | |
| 224 | Cowboy Poetry: Classic Rhymes by S. Omar Barker (1894-1985) | Jodie and Bob Phillips | FC 11 B-44 | 25 | S. Omar Barker | Ol' Snoozy Schmidt | A sleepin' fool was Snoozy Schmidt, The snorin' cowboy wonder. | |
| 225 | Cowboy Poetry: Classic Rhymes by S. Omar Barker (1894-1985) | Jodie and Bob Phillips | FC 11 B-44 | 26 | S. Omar Barker | Code of the Cow Country | It don't take sech a lot o' laws; To keep the rangeland straight. |