Badger Clark (18831957), South Dakotas first poet laureate, is best known for his A Cowboys Prayer, erroneously attributed to Anonymous and a mainstay at rodeos across the United States. After spending much of his childhood in Deadwood, SD, Badger escaped a harrowing experience in Cuba and then found his vocation as a cowboy and a poet in Arizona. He had a way of expressing that smooth, rolling, clip-clop rhythm of horse and rider.
Flood describes Badgers poetry as Shakespeare meets Walt Whitman during a cattle drive. Badger Clarks legacy as a bard of the American West endures. For over one hundred years, Badger Clarks poems have been sung and celebrated at poetry gatherings, rodeos, and many a cowboys final farewell. His plain and simple verses spoke of his love for the land and a deep appreciation for a life lived close to nature. Badger Clark: Poetry Wrangler tells the story of this iconic Western writer and celebrates his enduring poetry.
