Buck will hold you rapt with this lament, a meditation on loss of range and loss of life. Buck Ramsey performs "The Last Wagon" during the "Favorite Cowboy Songs: A Cappella and Otherwise" show at the 10th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. On the web at arts.gov.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Buck Ramsey
Amarillo, TX
Buck Ramsey got the nickname Buckskin Tarbox from his father, even though Buck’s birth name was Kenneth Melvin Ramsey. Buck spent his cowboy days snapping out broncs and punching cattle on the big ranches along the Canadian River in the Panhandle of Texas. Some years ago he got stove up and put in a wheelchair by a horse bigger than he was and some ranch tack that tore all to pieces. (In 1962, while working as a cowboy and rough rider, a bit shank snapped and he “landed wrong” coming off the horse, leaving him paralyzed.) This spurred him on to become a gifted writer of poetry, prose, and music, an avid reader, a singer, and a rawhide braider. Buck is considered one of the finest contemporary cowboy poets and was recognized with many awards including the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Golden Spur Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. He died in 1998.

"The Last Wagon" words by Bennett Foster.

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Filmed in front of a live audience at the Elko Convention Center’s Laurena Moren Theater on Jan. 27, 1994.

Made possible by the multitude of staff, artists, volunteers, and community members working behind the scenes to make this show happen.

Brought to you by the Western Folklife Center, using story and cultural expression to connect the American West to the world.
www.westernfolklife.org

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