Neal Torrey Cowboy Poetry Collection

Collection — Folder: 1 (SC 8-1)

Identifier: 2002-162

Staff Only

Abstract

This small collection includes several poems by Neal Torrey, a cowboy poet born in Missouri but raised in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

Dates

Creation: circa 2000

Creator

Torrey, Neal (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The Neal Torrey Cowboy Poetry Collection has no restrictions and is available for research. If you are interested in researching the materials, please contact the Dickinson Research Center to make an appointment.

Conditions Governing Use

The Neal Torrey Cowboy Poetry Collection is the property of the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum. Materials, even if owned by the NCWHM, may be protected under third party copyright. It is the patron’s responsibility to research and secure any such additional copyright and pay any required fees or royalties. It is not the intention of the NCWHM to impede upon any third party rights, and the NCWHM cannot be held responsible if the patron is involved in legal action due to violation of third party copyright claims.

Biographical / Historical

Neal Torrey, cowboy poet, was born in Missouri but grew up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where he raised AQHA and Appaloosa horses. He now lives in Bolivar, Missouri. Torrey says,

“I grew up reading Will James and Zane Grey, in fact, I think I read all that our small library had of those two. I tried my best to learn how to draw horses like Will James and Charlie Russell. I spent my Saturday afternoons in the movie theatres, watching Hopalong Cassidy, the Durango Kid, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Bob Steele, Gary Cooper, Henry Fonda, Red Ryder and all that bunch of good, clean-cut heroes. Later in life, as a Special Deputy Sheriff in Teton County, in Wyoming, I rode patrol on horseback, six-gun strapped to my hip, looking for (believe it or not) cattle rustlers! I had to pinch myself to see that I wasn’t dreaming. Our children, and perhaps a good many of our young adults need exposure to the moral code that was held by the real cowboys and ranchers. The later Hollywood image of the anti-hero in the leading role has done a lot of damage to the true story of the West.

As I can, I try with my cowboy poetry to show the cowboy, the rancher, the lawman, the soldier and the Native American in a good, positive light. Sure, there were bad men in the West, but they were definitely a minority, and were quickly eliminated by the decent citizens of the West. There is much to tell of the privations, the harsh weather and primitive conditions under which the men of the old West functioned.

If you study the hymns and the songs of the cowboy, you see that for the most part, he was a man of honor, integrity and faith. That story is one that needs to be told, and I have taken it upon myself to tell it.”

Neal Torrey is a member of the Missouri Cowboy Poets Association and the Oklahoma Western Heritage, Inc. He is the author of Sagebrush Sentiments.