SEVERAL TAKEAWAYS from the recent 37th Annual Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Medora. First of all, I make no claims about being a cowboy, a fact which does not exclude me from appreciating its wealth of stories. (Heck, I discovered Baxter Black was born in New York City and came to the West later.) I participated with several pieces dealing with shipping pens along spur railroads; rattlesnakes; St. Elmo’s fire; and a recitation of That Ragged Old Flag (since it was the Memorial Day weekend.)
Six states were represented: South Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, Colorado, Nebraska, and North Dakota. Musicians and poets performed their original pieces or borrowed from others. Some of them were outstanding, such as John Lardinois, Brent Voigt, D.W. Groethe, Yvonne Hollenbeck, Merrill Piepkorn, Pegie Douglas, Bill Lowman, and more.
One lady, Jan Schiferl from Fordyce, Nebraska, wrote and sang a song about her great-grandmother from Denmark who came here thinking she could always return if she didn’t like it. Turns out she did want to return but ended up in the middle of a large sea of waving grass and felt trapped by two huge oceans which she could never cross again, that of the waving grass and the watery sea. The personal history coupled with a beautiful melody made for a great piece. I was able to find Jan’s CD in the Western Edge Bookstore in Medora.
My pieces seemed to be well received. Several commented about my poem about the cattle pens from where cattle would be loaded into cattle cars. One old-timer remembered when a herd of seven-year-old Hereford steers were rounded up north of Medora and driven to the pens in Medora for shipping. The one about rattlesnakes dealt with the time a local legislator, Dan Panko, tried getting funding for a bounty on rattlesnakes and had no luck. Not giving up he went to a wintry den to gather a box full of them, brought them into the legislature, and dumped them out on the floor. These lines got a chuckle from the audience, “And such a commotion you never saw/ As when those snakes began to thaw/ And crawl about in the warmth of the room.” Yes, he got his bounty.
We’re tired now, but wanted to jot a few thoughts. After a diet of $12 and $14 hamburgers, I thought the one for $1.69 at the Jamestown McDonald’s was as good. The grass was green and ranchers voiced thankfulness for the recent rain. It was in the Western Edge Bookstore I was again reminded of the sign Doug Ellison displays, “If you think you have it tough, read a history book.” When returning home, we ran into a couple from Valley City who were present at the gathering and try to attend every year. I’ll remember her, because she was one of those who spoke well of my “stuff.”
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