This annual event has taken place for the past 17 years. And the main vehicle for telling that story is poetry, which is performed around Elko throughout the week. In a way, the smoke had to clear, because the hype that surrounded the Western scene for so many years really obscured the view of this kind of expression. And finally, ranch people could take their own voice and be heard further than just their local newspaper or their camp fire. Cowboy poetry has been a way of life for a long time, Cannon points out.
Ranch hands compete with each other to show who can best remember poems.
Rodeo performers traveling the long distances between rodeo events have recited poems to stay awake. Poems have even helped some cowboys go on dates. So some of his friends and he would memorize the traditional poetry and use it when they got stuck in social situations, coming to town, meeting girls and so forth. Hal Cannon explains the tradition of cowboy poetry . The idea of cowboys making poetry should not be surprising.