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 Echoes of the Trail Cowboy Poetry Contest winners were (from left) Alexis Johnson, Pleasanton, honorable mention; Lacie Forquer, Fort Scott, third place; Garrett Tatro, Fort Scott, second place, and Dakota Mashek, Fort Scott, first place. (Submitted photo) [Click to enlarge] |
Winners of the third annual contest are Fort Scott students: first place, Dakota Mashek of Linda Jackson's fifth-grade class at Eugene Ware Elementary; second place, Garrett Tatro of Stacia Weilert's fifth-grade at Winfield Scott; and third place, Lacie Forquer, also in Ms. Weilert's class. These three winners will receive cash prizes.
For the first time this year, the judges decided to award Honorable Mention certificates to four students: Aaron Eastood, Alexis Johnson, and Dakota McCullogh of Mrs. Ham's fifth-grade at Pleasanton Elementary, and Thomas Nighswonger of Ms. Weilert's Winfield Scott class.
Mashek received a $50 cash first prize. Tatro won $30 for finishing second and Forquer won $20 for third. Johnson also received an Honorable Mention certificate.
The winning entries described life in the old west. Mashek's poem was titled "Gold Dust," about the California Gold Rush. Tatro's poem described his perception of life for a cowboy on a horse with a guitar. Forquer's entry described her version of a cowgirl's life on the trail. The Honorable mention entries were based on the historical characters Billy the Kid, Annie Oakley, Belle Starr, and the Old West. The students used the Internet to research famous outlaws and other historic characters, then told their stories in rhyme.
There were 106 entries this year, the most since the contest began, according to organizers.
Rules of the contest were that the poems must be original and new work of the student, have at least 12 lines,be a narrative story about a western theme, and must rhyme. Although poems about Old West outlaws were permitted, the prize winners were creative stories of the Old West as perceived by the students.
Cowboys spent their time herding cattle out on the range, breaking horses to use, eating at a chuckwagon, and sitting around a campfire telling tales. Sometimes these cowboys made up poems and set them to tunes with which they were familiar. Thus, some of the cowboy music heard at Echoes of the Trail may have originated in Ireland, England, Mexico, or other countries of the cowboys' origin. Generally, the original "cowboy poets" used poor English and spelling, but reflected their experience as ranch hands and cow herdsmen.
Today's cowboy poets and singers recite some traditional poems and sing many traditional cowboy songs, but mainly write new songs and poetry about their personal experiences with horses, mules, ranching, and more. Some write epic poems based on history, and others tell hilarious or sad tales about present day cowboys.
The performers who come to Echoes of the Trail belong to the Missouri Cowboy Poets' Association and have years of experience to draw from. Sam Kiefer, for example, was a rodeo cowboy who graduated from FSCC. Donna Penley was a barrel racer and still raises and trains horses. Neal Torrey actually rode horseback in the Grand Tetons, chasing "bad guys" when he was a Sheriff in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Harold Carpenter learned to do trick roping in the 1930s in rural Kansas.
Several of the cowboy poets do rawhide braiding and saddlery. Steven Spalding once performed with Barbara Mandrell and others, and now concentrates on gospel music. Dennis Williams builds and restores carriages and chuck wagons, and fed the crowd June 13th and 14th at his chuck wagon. The coffee pot is always hangin' over a campfire, and young and old alike sat around it, closed their eyes, and imagined they are back in Kansas in the 1800s.
For more information about Echoes of the Trail, log onto http://echoesofthetrail.com, or call (620) 223-0736.