The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering is the granddaddy of all cowboy poetry events, proclaimed by the US Senate in 2000 in recognition of its pioneering role in the preservation and revitalization of this important American tradition. In conjunction with the 30th anniversary of the event, this commemorative volume collects 100 poems by various cowboy poets who have appeared at the gathering over the last three decades, from Baxter Black and Wallace McRae to Georgie Sicking and Paul Zarzyski. Representing the best contemporary cowboy poetry from the first gathering to the present, the poets and poems are culled for their importance and quality with consideration for a wide range of topics that represent the richness and depth of this broad genre. In addition to poems that will make you smile, sigh, or sit up straight in your saddle, the anthology features expressive photos of the contributors, biographical and explanatory headnotes, relevant artwork from the Western Folklife Center’s extensive archives, and illuminating sidebars on various topics such as working cattle; life on the land; the relationship between cowboy poetry and song; gear, horses, or cattle mentioned in poems; and profiles and photos of important cowboy poets from earlier times. Cowboy poet extraordinare Baxter Black will provide a foreword, and Charlie Seemann, executive director of the Western Folklife Center, will write an introduction that gives context both to the event itself and to cowboy poetry in general, from the days of the trail drives in the nineteenth century to the lives of the hardworking men and women who still ranch and live on the land in the West today.

An illustrated collection of over 100 works by the renowned cowboy poet.

Wally McRae, a regularly featured performer at the annual Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, has performed on a syndicated television program and at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. He is the first cowboy poet to be granted a National Heritage Award. This book contains 94 of his poems, including such classics as Reincarnation, along with 40 new poems published for the first time.Paperback; 25 black & white illustrations

As a pastor of Mountain Top Cowboy Church I have discovered that there is little material designed specifically for cowboy churches or cowboy ministries. Although I have been in the ministry for 14 years I had never considered writing a book however the Lord had other plans. In October of 2009 I broke my leg while competing at a 40 and over bull riding which required surgery. I do not believe that it was God's plan for me to ride a bull at the age of 46 but this book is an example that the Lord will use every situation we are in for good if we will allow Him to use us. During my time of recovery I started writing poems and short stories about my rodeo days then it turned to cowboy poetry. In the beginning it was a way to pass the time and deal with my situation. As I continued to write I began to relate my poems to scripture and it was then that the Lord truly began to use them to reach others. After sharing a few with my church I discovered that they could be a useful tool in cowboy churches and ministries or those in the western culture. This book of poems and proverbs is just another example of the Lord's Grace and Mercy in my life; it is because of His love that I am On The Trail

Presents a poem about Billy Deaver's cowboy initiation into manhood.

This book offers the first in-depth examination of a distinctive and community-based tradition rich with larger-than-life heroes, vivid occupational language, humor, and unblinking encounters with birth, death, nature, and animals in the poetry.

In his groundbreaking essay "Can Poetry Matter?" (reprinted here), Dana Gioia suggested that many types of poetry, assumed by some readers to be marginal art, should not so easily be deleted from mainstream American literature. Throughout the twentieth century, perhaps no important writing has been as seriously -- and mistakenly -- overlooked by the literati as Cowboy poetry. Essentially connected to the folk tale, to legend, myth, the ballad, and song, and vitally enhanced by the contemporary voices of independent ranch women, Cowboy poetry vividly connects us to our past and our fragile, threatened natural environment. The writers included here, both working horse-and-cattle people and mainstream authors, share the brand of bold expression and independent thought found only among the best literary artists. Here is not literary theory. Here is literary life. An anthology as diverse as America herself!

The rugged landscapes and hardy living of the Old West find vivid evocation in this superb anthology by the famed cowboy poet Charles Badger Clark. Many of the poems eloquently recall places famed for their role in old west life such as the rolling plains and farms host to great herds of livestock. Herding and driving cattle and other animals on horseback across the vast prairielands was the work of the cowboy; during evenings and breaks in the shade these men would sing songs about their daily life, the sights seen and tough jobs accomplished amid scenes of boundless nature. Charles Badger Clark was one of the most celebrated cowboy poets of his generation. Born in Iowa in 1883, from a young age he demonstrated a great knack for penning evocative verse. Much of his writing is treasured for depicting the slang and quirks of speech peculiar to the cowboys, offering readers authentic glimpses of a lifestyle lost to time. Decades after his death Clark was inducted into Oklahoma's revered Hall of Great Westerners for his contributions to the culture. This reprinting of Sun and Saddle Leather is based upon the expanded fifth edition, which dates to 1920.

A collection of poetry, profiles, and photographs celebrates the lives and work of twelve cowboy poets of the West