The National Cowboy Poetry Gathering (originally known as the Elko Cowboy Poetry Gathering) was founded in 1985 by a group of Western poets and folklorists in the small northeastern Nevada town of Elko. With support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the gathering serves as a hub for the celebration of cowboy folklore and folkways, growing to include not only proponents of the American tradition, but also international cowboys from South America to the Eurasian steppe. Recorded in 2004 in the gathering’s nineteenth year, this two-volume set serves as a cross-section of the festival, featuring poems, yarns, and music from the likes of Waddie Mitchell, Baxter Black, Paul Zarzyski, Don Edwards, and many more.

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