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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23638 | Echoes Of The Dawn | FC 11 B-63 | 6 | Belvina W. Bertino | Dawn | There is no grander place to be Than on the ranch at half past three To watch the miracle of dawn Flame through the skies in early morn. | ||
| 23639 | Echoes Of The Dawn | FC 11 B-63 | 6 | Belvina W. Bertino | Nature's Easel | Thickly wooded mountains Rise majestically To the spired silver castle Standing guard | ||
| 23640 | The Lowly cowchip: and other pungent poetry | FC 11 W-31 | 8 | Merrily Wright | Ode to organic gardeners | Some are sayin' cattle are a scourge on the land. | ||
| 23641 | The Lowly cowchip: and other pungent poetry | FC 11 W-31 | 10 | Merrily Wright | My husband was out ridin' | My husband was out ridin' when I went into labor | ||
| 23642 | The Lowly cowchip: and other pungent poetry | FC 11 W-31 | 12 | Merrily Wright | A cowboy | His horse is lean and tough, He'll go all day without a thirst | ||
| 23643 | The Lowly cowchip: and other pungent poetry | FC 11 W-31 | 14 | Merrily Wright | On a dark night | On a dark night with the kids in bed, I went out to help in the calving shed. | ||
| 23644 | The Lowly cowchip: and other pungent poetry | FC 11 W-31 | 16 | Merrily Wright | The Proverbs 31 ranch wife | The ranch wife who can find? Her worth is far above the land. | ||
| 23645 | The Lowly cowchip: and other pungent poetry | FC 11 W-31 | 18 | Merrily Wright | The lowly cow chip | What many have aversion to and some folks will deny, we're dependent on the cow chip for survival by and by. | ||
| 23646 | The Lowly cowchip: and other pungent poetry | FC 11 W-31 | 22 | Merrily Wright | Town day | It's quite a drive out that dirt road, where the livin's good and time goes slow | ||
| 23648 | The Lowly cowchip: and other pungent poetry | FC 11 W-31 | 25 | Merrily Wright | Otter and trout | Two endangered species sittin' in teh water one was a trout, one was an otter. | ||
| 23649 | The Lowly cowchip: and other pungent poetry | FC 11 W-31 | 26 | Merrily Wright | It's not how you look | When it comes to cowboyin' it's plain to see there's some that have a strange mastery | ||
| 23650 | The Lowly cowchip: and other pungent poetry | FC 11 W-31 | 28 | Merrily Wright | By faith | The trucks were coming to take out herd, the loan was large and overdue, | ||
| 23651 | The Lowly cowchip: and other pungent poetry | FC 11 W-31 | 30 | Merrily Wright | A dentist's request | Dear Merrily, You might think this request is strange but I thought yo could help living there on the range. | ||
| 23652 | The Lowly cowchip: and other pungent poetry | FC 11 W-31 | 32 | Merrily Wright | A spiritual moment | There was nothing that could stop me, I was going to be the best whatever I tried I'd win if you put me to the test. | ||
| 23653 | The Lowly cowchip: and other pungent poetry | FC 11 W-31 | 34 | Merrily Wright | For everything there is a season | As geese break the silence on a wet new spring air morning | ||
| 23654 | The Lowly cowchip: and other pungent poetry | FC 11 W-31 | 36 | Merrily Wright | Ray | Ray Antelope born a Shoshone in changing times in a changing home Ray Antelope | ||
| 23655 | The Lowly cowchip: and other pungent poetry | FC 11 W-31 | 38 | Merrily Wright | There's a dog that I can't stand | There's a dog that I can't stand, left here before we came | ||
| 23656 | The Lowly cowchip: and other pungent poetry | FC 11 W-31 | 41 | Merrily Wright | Our telephone | The telephone for most folks is a common useful tool | ||
| 23657 | The Lowly cowchip: and other pungent poetry | FC 11 W-31 | 44 | Merrily Wright | Some governemnt thinkin' | This land is yours this land is mine but this part's been reserved for life that's more important | ||
| 23658 | The Lowly cowchip: and other pungent poetry | FC 11 W-31 | 46 | Merrily Wright | Night vets | Late one night during calvin' season | ||
| 23659 | The Lowly cowchip: and other pungent poetry | FC 11 W-31 | 51 | Merrily Wright | The garden | The garden is a peaceful place so quiet and serene, amid the sage and desert land a paradise of green | ||
| 23660 | The Lowly cowchip: and other pungent poetry | FC 11 W-31 | 52 | Merrily Wright | Barbs | When your out across the meadow checkin' fences in the spring. | ||
| 23661 | The Lowly cowchip: and other pungent poetry | FC 11 W-31 | 54 | Merrily Wright | Rodeo Jo | Born a girl among three brothers to a desert ranching home, she's a blessing to her mother and they named her Mary Jo | ||
| 23662 | Echoes Of The Dawn | FC 11 B-63 | 6 | Belvina W. Bertino | March Kite A-Flying | Icy hands and windblown cheeks, Tousled hair and rupled clothes; Eyes a-kindle as he shriekes, "See my kite--up there she goes!" | ||
| 23663 | Echoes Of The Dawn | FC 11 B-63 | 7 | Belvina W. Bertino | Signs of Spring | The sun gets up for breakfast now, And chesty meadowlarks all sing As wobbly claves close trail each cow Because it's spring. |