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Show mented their work with cattle. This situation understandably became the subject for numerous poems, including a piece written by Ellis Robison of Torrey, a cattle and sheep raising area near what is now Capitol Reef National Monument. This poem, entitled "I Wouldn't Be a Puncher Man" was published in a Utah newspaper, sometime in the 30s or 40s, and was clipped out by Lucile B. Bush for her extensive collection of cowboy songs and poems. I thought I'd be a puncher man With saddle, horse and rope, And o'er the hills and valleys, I'd make my pony 'lope. I bought a little band of cows And turned them out afar To gather shad scale here and there, On valley, hill and scar. I watched them nigh onto a year, Beneath the sky so blue; I watched them dwindle one by one, And some times two by two. I couldn't stand their ragged ribs, Their hollow sunken eyes. I couldn't "burn them hard and loud," And hear their plaintive cries. I couldn't see them starve and starve On bench land, field or plain, I wouldn't be a puncher man And punch the cows again. I'd rather have an "alfa" stack As big as Jones' barn, And feed them "alfa" long and green, And heaps on heaps of corn. I'd rather fatten one or two To take the yearly prize, Than turn them out to starve to death, Beneath the winter skies. 18 Cowboy Poetry From Utah |