Homer on the Range

In Fine Books Magazine, L.D. Mitchell discusses cowboy poetry.

From the post...

Because cowboy poetry has long been primarily an oral tradition, book collectors have long had much more success obtaining recordings of such poetry than books about it. It is largely the success of the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering that has begun to drive book publishing in this area:

Some journalists say it's the most honest and open-hearted festival in America. Ranchers say these few days contain the highest concentration of lies in any one place at any one time. Twenty years ago, Glamour Magazine said it was one of the best ten places in America for a woman to find a real catch....

Although the first such gathering can be traced to 1926, today's Gathering is largely the result of an attempt by Western folklorists to rescue "the cowboy heritage" in 1985. Its birth was not without numerous pangs, as recounted here by co-founder Hal Cannon. But, over the past quarter-century, cowpokes and city slickers alike have come to appreciate its founders' intent, and the Gathering is keenly anticipated by an increasingly wide and diverse audience.