Sun and Saddle Leather

Book excerpt: 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.