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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.

Search:

Poetry table.

First Previous Next Last
IDBook TitleComposerIndexPagesAuthorPoem TitleFirst LinesKeywords
22462 Cowboy Heart, Soul, and Humor FC 11 F-20 53 Doug Foshee The Real West Roy Rogers and Gene Autry never sweated or got dirty. Their shiny boots and saddles, fancy shirts, and guitars, (and guns that never needed reloading) made cowboy life seem pretty.
22463 Cowboy Heart, Soul, and Humor FC 11 F-20 55 Doug Foshee Some Confusion Some folks believe they have the right to just "tell it like it is" Whenever and wherever to me it is a quiz. Anything coming from their mouth to them it is OK. Why should they ever worry about what THEY might have to say?
22464 Cowboy Heart, Soul, and Humor FC 11 L-36 57 Doug Foshee Spurs and Bicycles Now spurs is a great invention for cueing horses and such But when it comes to riding bicycles they don't bring about much luck. The story I'm fixin' to tell you was told to me as true, So if it was a windy, then a windy I'll be telling you.
22465 Cowboy Heart, Soul, and Humor FC 11 F-20 61 Doug Foshee My Early Morning Wake-up Call We saddled up just before sunrise to make ourselves a drive. That special time of morning when everything seems to come alive.
22466 Cowboy Heart, Soul, and Humor FC 11 F-20 63 Doug Foshee Cowboy Garden When my wife and me got married in the year of '85 She wanted me to plow and plant a garden, which to me came as a big surprise. Why, don't that gal know I'm a cowboy and a plow don't fit my hands?
22467 Cowboy Heart, Soul, and Humor FC 11 F-20 65 Doug Foshee Time Stands Still The first time I saw that young lady she was facing away from me. Atop her long blonde hair sat a Stetson hat. She wore some tight fittin' jeans.
22468 Cowboy Heart, Soul, and Humor FC 11 F-20 67 Doug Foshee He Had a Way With Horses The first time that I met him he'd just turned eight-one. The creases in his face and his weathered hands showed he had seen the rise and set of many a sun.
22469 Cowboy Heart, Soul, and Humor FC 11 F-20 69 Doug Foshee An Old Cowboy's Wish My steps are a little slower. My shoulders droop a little lower. My eyes have seen things That make my heart sing.
22470 Cowboy Heart, Soul, and Humor FC 11 F-20 71 Doug Foshee A Cowboy Morning When old Coosie banged on the bell about 4:30 today I said to myself, "My gosh, I just now hit the hay!!" To pull the covers up and stay in my bedroll would sure be grand But yesterday the foreman had already laid out a plan
22471 Cowboy Heart, Soul, and Humor FC 11 F-20 73 Doug Foshee Starting the Day I awoke to the smell of bacon frying on this, another day And I listened to the others stirring and what they had to say.
22472 Cowboy Heart, Soul, and Humor FC 11 F-20 75 Doug Foshee Why are We here? It had been a long hard day and the branding and working the calves was finally done. After supper we sat on the porch when all of a sudden a question was asked by my son. "Dad," he asked, "Why do you reckon that we've been put here to spend our time on this old earth?
22473 Cowboy Heart, Soul, and Humor FC 11 F-20 77 Doug Foshee The Drought Several years ago the circuit preacher rode into our little town. Instead of a warm welcome he was just met with a bunch of frowns. "Why are you so glum and sad on this God's glorious day?"
22474 Cowboy Heart, Soul, and Humor FC 11 F-20 79 Doug Foshee His Church His Church is more than just a building where people come and sit To gossip with the other folks and show how their new clothes fit. His church is God's holy place where believers sing and pray
22475 Cowboy Heart, Soul, and Humor FC 11 F-20 81 Doug Foshee Are there Dogs and Horses in Heaven? As I sat on my porch last night thinking about all the things that go on in this life, The good and the bad, the happy and sad, and our joys and struggles and strife.
22476 Cowboy Heart, Soul, and Humor FC 11 F-20 83 Doug Foshee God's Holy Place As I gaze out over the moutains, I feel I'm in God's Holy Place. The sights, the sounds, the cool fresh breeze brings a smile to my old weathered face.
22477 Some Cowboy Poems FC 11 S-70 1 J.I. Slinger A Cowboy Poem Well, I never thought of trying, at first, To compost some of that Cowboy Verse, Until I rode up to Lubbock one time.. .And met some ol' cowboys- When they talked, why they rhymed
22478 Some Cowboy Poems FC 11 S-70 2 J.I. Slinger The Cowboy's Clothes Some Greenhorns think that a cowboy's clothes, are all that way for show, And when I hear 'em snickerin', I realize they just don't know. . .
22479 Some Cowboy Poems FC 11 S-70 5 J.I. Slinger The Irish Cowboy There once was a cowboy who hailed from The Irish town of Downpatric. When asked to recite a poem by the firelight He invariably came up with a Limeric.
22480 The Down to Earth Collection FC 11 S-71 7 Mike Sweet Dads Need Hugs Too Now that I'm all grown up and think of my Dad. . .I am filled with the good times, just can't remember any bad.
22481 Some Cowboy Poems FC 11 S-70 6 J.I. Slinger The Danger of Cowboy Poetry Well, Jake was a likeable sort of a guy, Always was a pretty good man. . .'til he went to one of them poetry things, And decided he'd just try his hand
22482 The Down to Earth Collection FC 11 S-71 8 Mike Sweet Superior Country Far away from the city's maddening crowds and noisy roar there's a place called cow country running from shore to shore.
22483 The Down to Earth Collection FC 11 S-71 11 Mike Sweet Buried Treasure I returned one day in search of the treasure, buried here some 40 years ago. Hadn't been here in so long I needed to feel the past before I could go.
22484 The Down to Earth Collection FC 11 S-71 13 Mike Sweet The Masterpiece From where ever I stand I can survey an endless painting that changes each and every day. The canvas spans from horizon to horizon filled with shapes and designs that change as I imagine.
22485 The Down to Earth Collection FC 11 S-71 15 Mike Sweet The Perfect Age Now what is the perfect age I say, as I watch these sons of mine play? Looking back through the years I can hardly remember being nine or ten and what was important then.
22486 The Down to Earth Collection FC 11 S-71 17 Mike Sweet Joe's Song With trembling hands the country boy opened the tattered case, withdrew the instrument and began the late night ritual with a soft embrace