INTRODUCTION:

At the end of the Civil War, young men and women traveled to the west of North America to work on ranches and drive the trail. Over 50,000 rode the herds and after a long hard day’s work, they would gather around the campfire and entertain one another with stories and song. Seeing that illiteracy was common, cowboys used poetic forms to aid memory. This book is a collection of those very same poems which were shared over a hundred years ago.

Although their lives have been romanticized through folklore and motion pictures, in reality the life of a cowboy was lonely, harsh and usually short. Cowboy poetry was a way to escape from the hardships they faced nearly everyday. By reading these poems you are able to gain a new appreciation as well as a better understanding of the American cowboy.