
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
SUN AND SADDLE LEATHER
RIDIN'
THE SONG OF THE LEATHER
A BAD HALF HOUR
FROM TOWN
A COWBOY'S PRAYER - (Written for Mother)
THE CHRISTMAS TRAIL
A BORDER AFFAIR
A vivid tapestry of the American frontier unfolds in this collection of western verses, where the rhythm of hooves and the hush of dusk blend with a poet’s keen eye for the open sky. Drawing from a childhood in Deadwood and a solitary ranch life near the Mexican border, the poems capture the raw humor, hard‑won wisdom, and quiet yearning of cowmen who live by the land’s own pulse. Each piece feels like a song sung around a campfire, simple yet resonant, echoing the timeless spirit of freedom that has long defined the West.
The author’s own journey from a restless youth to a desert‑dwelling troubadour lends an authentic voice to the verses, turning everyday scenes—sun‑bleached yuccas, distant mesas, and the clatter of a guitar on a porch railing—into lyrical portraits. Readers will hear the rustle of dust‑blown trails, the camaraderie of wandering riders, and the melancholy that underlies even the brightest sunsets, all rendered in a vernacular that feels as natural as the wind across the plains.
Language
en
Duration
~52 minutes (50K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Roberta Staehlin, David Garcia and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
Release date
2011-07-17
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1883–1957
A cowboy poet with a gift for plainspoken rhythm, he helped turn ranch life and western landscapes into enduring American verse. Best known in South Dakota as the state’s first poet laureate, he brought humor, solitude, and wide-open country onto the page.
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