Western bards return to Elko for 15th cowboy poetry festival

Friday, Jan. 29, 1999 | 2:59 a.m.

This year is no different, as an estimated 9,000 visitors - most in high-brimmed hats and well-worn or fancy go-to-town boots - have taken over the local convention center, hotels, casinos and bars.

But for Paul Bliss of Salem, Utah, the gathering that started last weekend and continues through Saturday is anything but usual, beginning with his entrance into town.

He arrived opening day on horseback, having covered 330 miles of desert and snowy mountain passes with hopes of reciting some of his poems during "anything goes" open-mike sessions.

Two tired horses from his string of eight were left in Callao, at the foot of the Deep Creek Mountains in Utah, as the rest of the party, including Bliss' friend and travel mate Tom Parks, continued on.

Otherwise, Bliss reported, the trip was "great," offering at least one adventure as poetry fodder - the day his horse Tyson earned the first name "Mike."

It was on the second day out that Bliss' mild-mannered horse balked at having the pack saddle on his back, Bliss said. The animal's antics scattered the cowboys' gear, so they packed up again with the same result.

"We started a fight we had to finish," and though it put them three hours behind on a tight schedule, Bliss said he won. The horse "was a perfect gentleman the rest of the way to Elko, but he'd already earned his new name."

Once Bliss had been greeted at the steps of the Western Folklife Center, sponsor of the annual cowboy gathering, he was invited to appear on-stage at a ticketed event with singer Michael Martin Murphey.

Though he never had performed before such a large audience, Bliss' nervousness passed as soon as the spotlight blinded him, he said with a smile beneath his bushy handlebar mustache.

"It was an incredible honor," the cowboy and building contractor said the next day, after reciting two more poems to a receptive crowd. His poem, "Old Doug," about a 20-year-old horse and best friend lost in a tragic accident, evoked moist eyes for many in the audience.

Bliss wrote the poem to explain to his young son how his horse had died. An excerpt:

He'd never quiet for a minute

He was faithful right up to the end

He was quick, he was strong, he was gallant

He was more than just a close friend.

Son, he fell with me up in those mountains

We rolled down the steep, rocky side

He came to rest next to a pine tree

With a tree limb stuck deep in his side.

Bliss' presentation was followed by the debut of Doug Warr, from Grantsville, whose politically incorrect poem got a riotous response.

Another invited Utah performer, songwriter/singer Brenn Hill of Ogden, has been composing his own tunes since he was 15.

Despite its name and reputation as a poetry forum, the cowboy gathering has grown into much more. Workshops on everything from blacksmithing, leather tooling, gentling (rather than "breaking") horses and cooking have become popular additions.

Even a practical issue like estate planning, with the focus on ranch families, drew a full house. Mitch and Rhonda Heguy, a cattle-ranching couple from Elko, were among those trying to learn more about protecting assets from probate costs and estate taxes.

As a third generation involved in the business, and with expectations that their young son will be the fourth, Mitch said they are trying to avoid mistakes that cost the family's ranching business in the past.

"We're just looking to hold on instead of give it all to Uncle Sam," Mitch said.