Charles Badger Clark
Charles Badger Clark | |
---|---|
Born | Albia, Iowa, U.S. | January 1, 1883
Died | September 26, 1957 | (aged 74)
Alma mater | Dakota Wesleyan University (did not graduate) |
Occupation | Poet |
Charles Badger Clark (January 1, 1883 – September 26, 1957) was an American cowboy poet,[1][2][3][4] and the first poet laureate of South Dakota.[5]
Early life
Charles Badger Clark was born on January 1, 1883, in
Career
While in Arizona, Clark had spent four years watching a remote ranch. With time on his hands, he wrote letters back to his family in South Dakota, sometimes describing his new world in verse. His stepmother liked one of his Arizona poems so much that she submitted it to The Pacific Monthly magazine. Pacific published it in 1907 as the poem Ridin' and sent Clark a check for $10. He later recalled thinking, "If they'll pay for such stuff, why here's the job I've been looking for all along - no boss, no regular hours [or] responsibility."[5]
Clark published his first poetry collection in 1917. In 1925, he moved to a cabin in Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota, where he lived for thirty years and continued to write poetry.[1][2][4][6][7]
Clark was named the Poet Laureate of South Dakota by Governor
Death and legacy
Clark died on September 26, 1957, in Rapid City, South Dakota.[3] He's buried at Evergreen Cemetery, Hot Springs, South Dakota (Block 4, Section M, Lot 7).
His poem entitled "Lead My America" was performed by the
Bibliography
- Grass-Grown Tales (1917)
- Sun and Saddle Leather (1919)
- Spike (1925)
- When Hot Springs Was a Pup (1927)
- God of the Open
- Sky Lines and Wood Smoke (1935)
- The Story of Custer City, S.D. (1941)
- Boot and Bylines (posthumous, 1978)
- Singleton (posthumous, 1978)
Books
- Jessi Y. Sundstrom: Badger Clark, Cowboy Poet with Universal Appeal, Custer, S.D., 2004
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Badger Clark Memorial Society, biography". Archived from the original on 2013-06-22. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
- ^ a b c d e Dakota Wesleyan University biography Archived 2011-05-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e f Black Hills Visitor Magazine biography
- ^ a b c d Marsha Trimble, 'Who is Badger Clark?', in True West Magazine, 08/25/2009 "Who is Badger Clark? | True West Magazine - Preserving the American West". Archived from the original on 2011-07-17. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
- ^ a b c d Vaughan, Carson (October 2020). "The Cowboy Poet". Smithsonian.
- ^ a b c d e "South Dakota Public Broadcasting biography". Archived from the original on 2011-01-16. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
- ^ Badger Hole
- ^ a b "Badger Clark Memorial Society, homepage". Archived from the original on 2009-06-15. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
- ^ "Gertrude Ross". cudl.colorado.edu. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
- ^ Sarah Palin, America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2010, pp. 230-231
- ^ "Hall of Great Westerners". National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
External links
- Works by Badger Clark at Project Gutenberg
- Works by Charles Badger Clark at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
- Works by or about Charles Badger Clark at Internet Archive