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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
4852 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 26 Samuel Harkness Tip Benton There was something of the snake about Tip Benton. character, life, marriage, husband, wife, mail order bride, death, crook, proposal, opportunist
4853 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 29 Samuel Harkness Ella Bowen Ella Bowen does not look exactly human. character, woman, female, harlot, prostitute, insanity, sanitarium, crazy, life, ugliness
4854 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 32 Samuel Harkness Shorty Shorty has no formal name; gulch gossip ascribes him. character, gossip, cripple, crippled, crutch, handicap
4855 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 34 Samuel Harkness Rock Slide Gray treachery to ancient height. rocks, stones, mountain, nature, avalanche
4856 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 35 Samuel Harkness Jean Batiste Lecort The log schoolhouse. school, student, monument, war, WWI, WW I, death, hero, medals, France, character
4857 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 38 Samuel Harkness Pierre Lecort Frenchy Pete came from Picardy in `75. child, immigrant, son, miner, prospector, mining, Frenchman, custody, gold, alcohol, drink, loss, character
4858 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 41 Samuel Harkness Imprecation Come, fire of God! nature, gentians, flowers, meadow, indigo
4859 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 42 Samuel Harkness Angus Mackenzie Angus Mackenzie never stood on the fringe of interest. character, donkey, venison, banker, bankers, food, mill, money
4860 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 46 Samuel Harkness Rainbow Last word of storm and first of sun. nature, God, belief
4861 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 47 Samuel Harkness Answers Angus Mackenzie, owner of the Sphinx and believer in fairies. character, mine, question, questions, life, friendship, discussion, conversation, life
4862 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 50 Samuel Harkness Sunset Day dies suddenly. thoughts, thought, memories
4863 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 51 Samuel Harkness Martha Polk The ticket read, "Boston to Parlin, Colorado." teacher, school, education, community, health, giving, friendship, kindness, learning
4864 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 55 Samuel Harkness Cascade Tail of silver stallion. nature
4865 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 56 Samuel Harkness Apocrypha Amy Franklin is eighty-two years old. character, memory, storytelling, blind, blindness,
4866 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 58 Samuel Harkness Boulder Creek Your channel is a loom. river, water
4867 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 59 Samuel Harkness Albert Tupper It was a long distance from London gutters to Horse-Thief Gulch. character, ancestry, bloodlines
4868 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 61 Samuel Harkness Homer Spink When Shorty hauls my month's supplies from the county seat. character, Sousa, band music, fame, trumpet
4869 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 63 Samuel Harkness Wardrobe Lake Boulder is a wanton without a wedding ring. lake, water, nature, Colorado, change
4870 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 64 Samuel Harkness Rob McDowell Rob McDowell lived at the head of Horse-Thief Gulch. character, molybdenum, metal, mineral, steel, friendship
4871 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 66 Samuel Harkness Rim Rock Protruding bones. rimrock, nature
4872 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 67 Samuel Harkness Hetty Dill Hetty Dill made analogy and golden doughnuts. cup, kerosene, aging, old age, memories, loneliness
4873 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 69 Samuel Harkness Campfire Red wound in the black skin of night. campfire
4874 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 70 Samuel Harkness Reverend Ernest Teagarden Brother Teagarden was a mild little man. character, church, missionary, preacher, people, congregation, alcohol, drink, smallpox
4875 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 73 Samuel Harkness Gabriel Fenstermacher When Gabriel Fenstermacher painted. character, minister, second coming, Jesus, belief, Christ, dream, paint
4876 Horse-Thief Gulch FC 11 H-07 75 Samuel Harkness Snow Patch Rag from Winter's cloak. snow, winter, spring, violets, flowers, water