PRESCOTT, Ariz.—The cowboys and cowgirls were navigating a different kind of landscape—one of rhythm, rhyme and reflections born around the campfire nearly 200 years ago.
Most were cattle ranchers, but each had a story to tell at the 38th Arizona Cowboy Poets Gathering in Prescott.
From Aug. 6–8, more than 40 poets, musicians and songwriters came together at Yavapai Community College for a regional celebration of cowboy culture.
“It’s a hard life—there are no days off,” said Roselynn Fernwalt, a member of the event organizing committee. “It’s just their stories of their lives put to poetry.”
Cowboy poet Kathy Smith of Ivins, Utah, was raised in the high-desert ranching culture of northwest Arizona—a life of freedom, practicality, and time-honored ways….