SAN FRANCISCO—June 12, 2009
CowboyPoetry.com officially named its fifteenth Lariat Laureate today—and "8 Seconds"—winners in a global competition on the internet's premier cowboy poetry site. This popular folk form preserves and celebrates the stories of ranching and rural life.
South Dakota rancher and poet Ken Cook (of Martin), a finalist in previous competitions, was recognized as Lariat Laureate for his poem, "The Conversation." The inspiration for the poem was an oral history interview, in which Cook says he "spent nearly the entire interview talking about my Grandpa Frank Buckles and my kids and the changes in the cattle industry that have occurred over three generations..." He comments, "For me, the poem has become ageless, with the passing of my Grandpa, my kids growing up, and now a grandchild of my own. This thing we call 'life on the ranch' has a way changing with the seasons."
The "8 Seconds" finalists are, alphabetically, Cathy Brian of Loa, Utah; Daniel Bybee of Reno, Nevada; Byrl Keith Chadwell of Baker City, Oregon; Del Gustafson of Duvall, Washington; Slim McNaught of New Underwood, South Dakota; Kip Sorlie of Viborg, South Dakota; Smoke Wade of Lewiston, Idaho and Mesquite, Nevada; and Cora Wood of Encampment, Wyoming.
CowboyPoetry.com is a project of the non-profit Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry. The site, updated continually, is a central resource for western and cowboy poetry and associated arts. It hosts thousands of classic and contemporary poems, features, an events calendar, and news. The eighth annual Center-sponsored Cowboy Poetry Week was held in April 2009, an event officially recognized by unanimous resolution of the United States Senate. As a part of that celebration, each year the Center's outreach Rural Library Project offers libraries across the West its contemporary Western art poster (this year by Bob Coronato of Hulett, Wyoming) and its annual compilation CD of modern and classic cowboy poetry, "The BAR-D Roundup."
Most of the Lariat Laureate finalists share rural roots, and many express the importance of preserving a record of an endangered way of life through their stories. The poetry often acknowledges the challenges and rewards of ranching life lifestyle, its communities, and its values.
Slim McNaught of New Underwood, South Dakota, is a previous finalist. His poem, "The Snubbin' Post," was prompted by a writers' group topic assignment. He tells, "Looking back, I remembered our round corral with a young horse dallied to the snubbing post, no breeze, dust thick, sweaty, feeling his power, fear, and curiosity as I eased down the rope." McNaught, who spent his early years on a ranch on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwest South Dakota, feels a responsibility to preserve Western heritage. He comments, "It is by looking back and recording what we see, that keeps our history flowing for future generations."
Hearing the distinct shouts of her own cowboys—"five wonderful, slightly dirty, mischievous, kids" —among many cowboys gathering and working cattle inspired Loa, Utah rancher Cathy Brian to write "The Day the Cows Go Out." She tells that she writes cowboy poetry with her children's futures in mind, " Where the cowboy is dwindling, and being run off his precious land, the stories and lessons he has learned are so important and necessary. I want my children to have the memories of their endangered childhood written down in this traditional and unique way..."
Daniel Bybee of Reno, Nevada, spent much of his youth on his uncle’s cattle ranch in Coarsegold, California. He says his uncle, "Clyde Pitts, taught me the cowboy code through how he lived his life and I am forever grateful to him for how I live my life today." Bybee's poem, "Old Jiggs," is the tale of an "ornery" cow horse who lived for over 40 years.
Byrl Keith Chadwell of Baker City, Oregon, recently worked as a Grand Canyon mule guide. He considers what makes a cowboy in his poem, "Cowboy Credentials." His poetry draws on his life experiences, and he comments, "My life has been enriched by a family heritage of pioneer ranching, timber, mining and farm people who came West and scratched out a living in this great Northwest country. My Grandfather Chadwell came West with a cattle drive on the Oregon Trail and stayed to homestead in Eastern Oregon. Our ranch was also along parts of the old Oregon Trail..."
Del Gustafson of Duvall, Washington, spent his early years on the family farm just south of the Canadian border. He says, "My brothers and I would ride anything we could and some things we couldn’t." His poem, "The Night Wind," was written "after a wild horse chase on the south fork of the Salmon River."
Kip Sorlie of Viborg, South Dakota tells that he was not "ranch raised," but rather that in his case, "the condition was entirely adult onset." Relocating his family decades ago, they settled on a ranch in Sanders County, Montana. When the children were grown, he and his wife exchanged their ranch for a hay farm near them, in South Dakota. His poem, "Rope," is a strong and vivid metaphor of the ties and hardships that can bind generations. Sorlie comments about the purpose he finds in writing cowboy poetry, "It is an honest, straight-forward handshake with honest, straight-forward people who, even if they do not live the lifestyle, carry the values with great pride."
Smoke Wade of Lewiston, Idaho, and Mesquite, Nevada, is a previous finalist. Wade was born and raised on a remote Snake River cattle ranch in Hells Canyon, Oregon, a fourth-generation Wallowa County cowboy and rangeland manager. He tells that in his winning poem, "Trailing the Herd," he was "trying to re-capture the memory of the days when we used to trail large herds of cattle out of the Hells Canyon of the Snake River as the herd followed the seasons. Those days are gone now along with the cattle ranches in Hells Canyon." Active today as a gathering organizer and reporter, he comments, "After the fall of the Hells Canyon ranching industry, cowboy poetry was a natural way for me to recall the history of the life I once lived and the cowboys I had known. Likewise, the importance of cowboy poetry today is that it continues to document the memory of Western events, people, and the cultural significance of the cowboy way of life that is quickly disappearing from the American West..."
Cora Wood of Encampment, Wyoming, is the youngest poet honored; she's seven years old. She takes her place in the tradition of writing about ranching life. Her poem, "Chester," is about a horse she rides when working cows with her ranch manager father. Cora performs at events across the West. She writes songs as well as poems, and is also known for her yodeling, which is showcased in her new recording, "Cora's Cowgirl Yodel."
Cowboy poetry's popularity is celebrated year round at CowboyPoetry.com, in an ever-growing number of publications and recordings, and at hundreds of regional gatherings. No other way of life has spawned so many poets and so many compelling, enduring stories. Cowboy poetry's tales of the past and present preserve the heritage of an endangered culture, an important part of North America and North American history.###
Preserving and celebrating the arts and life
of rural communities and the real working West