Badger Clark: Poetry Wrangler
Do you know about cowboy poets? A few years back, we attended a 50th anniversary celebration in South Dakota. The couple were cattle ranchers. One of their ranch hands read his poetry in their honor. We were told this fellow was well-known as a cowboy poet and he rode an ATV, not a horse, to do his work on the ranch. Ranching, I learned, was very different than Bonanza and Wagon Train, as portrayed in the 1960s.
When I was introduced to this book, Badger Clark: Poetry Wrangler, I learned that cowboy poetry is so respected that Badger Clark is a hero for people in the West. His home, The Badger Hole, is visited in great numbers by people who wish to see how he lived. His poem, “A Cowboy’s Prayer,” is often read before a rodeo begins. Badger Clark was the first poet laureate of South Dakota, from 1937 to 1957, when he died.
This is a book suffused with beauty. From the weight and finish of the paper, to the gentle words that relate his true story, to the awe-inspiring illustrations, to the chronology and bibliography in the back matter, I keep returning to the beginning to read it once again. I don’t want to miss anything.
The author shares the story of the young boy who moved with his minister father from Iowa to Deadwood, South Dakota. Seeking adventure, Badger traveled to Cuba and then to Arizona, where he discovered the wide open spaces of being a ranch hand, shepherding cattle over the desert. He was so moved by the beauty of his surroundings that he began to write, eventually becoming a prolific and often-published poet.
The details and the lyricism with which Nancy Bo Flood chooses to tell Badger Clark’s story keep me revisiting the book to enjoy her writing, wanting to make sure I’ve learned everything I can.
“Badger wrote poetry that spoke plain and simple of his love for the land and all its quiet beauty—horned toads hiding in the shade of a cactus, hummingbirds darting between blossoms to sip sweet nectar, ravens scolding, vultures circling.”
The book’s layout is unusual. The title page is preceded by four pages that depict the opening of a rodeo, beginning with a “Yee-haw” and culminating with the reading of a portion of “The Cowboy’s Prayer.” Only then does the story of Badger’s life begin.
I think the illustrations are genius. They’re another reason I keep starting over from the beginning. What have I missed seeing? There’s so much drawn into these pages. From her page composition, the variety of landscape vistas to closeups, the constellations in the sky, the fully-dimensional rope borders, the appreciation of his surroundings in Badger’s eyes, the texture of boardwalk and blooming cacti, I keep drinking in Jeanne Bowman’s color-suffused art.
Don’t miss the mother skunk and her kits on the front jacket flap … where will they appear in the story?
To everyone involved in this book, kudos. I know more about cowboy poets now, especially the man who brought this form of poetry to world-wide attention. And I have a book to savor.
Don’t miss this article on illustrator Jeanne Bowman’s blog, “Badger Clark: Poetry Wrangler,” as she shares her research for the book on her Notes from the Curious Bean, a Substack column.
Enjoy Jeanne Bowman’s interview with author Nancy Bo Flood.
You can hear Poet Laureate Marilyn Nelson read and discuss “A Cowboy’s Prayer.”
Badger Clark: Poetry Wrangler
written by Nancy Bo Flood
illustrated by Jeanne Bowman
published by South Dakota Historical Society Press, 2025
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Thank you for writing such a fabulous review, Vicki!
It looks beautiful AND fascinating!