SCOUTING YESTERDAY: South Dakota's 'Cowboy Poet' inspires work by Johnny Cash, Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan

This week in South Dakota history: Dec. 6-12

(Photo: South Dakota Historical Society Foundation)

South Dakota’s ‘cowboy poet,’ Badger Clark, gave a lecture and recital of his works at the City Temple in Sioux Falls on Dec. 7, 1923. The event was arranged by the town’s History Club as a fundraiser for a new building, according to the Argus Leader. Clark’s stop in Sioux Falls was part of a speaking tour through Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota.

Born Jan. 1, 1883, Clark moved to Dakota Territory with his family the same year. Clark’s father’s profession as a preacher kept the family on the move, living in Huron, Mitchell and Deadwood until they eventually settled down in Hot Springs.

At the age of 20, Clark left South Dakota for Cuba with a group put together by a Chicago land company to inspect the island for potential value. The Deadwood-Pioneer Times reported that Clark was contemplating the fruit-growing business if he found the island to his liking.

The Cuban expedition was a failure, but from there Clark moved to Arizona where he would gain much of the inspiration for his poetry that would bring him much notoriety. Attempting to ease the symptoms of his tuberculosis with the warm dry air, Clark worked as a caretaker at the Cross I Quarter Circle Ranch, according to Smithsonian Magazine.

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