William R. Gubler (Bill)                                                                                                               

Cowboy Poet and Performer

MY COWBOY EXPERIENCE

As a youngster I grew-up herding cattle, milking, plowing hay fields, irrigating, moving pipe, cutting, turning, bailing and hauling hay.  I taught myself to ride at the age of 6 by jumping off the fence onto the back of a Palomino mare (bare back, no bridle).  Later my uncles taught me the finer points of riding (with a saddle and bridle), milking and herding cattle.  I learned to drive on my grandpa’s old Case tractor.  I learned roping, branding, vaccinating, de-horning, doctoring bloats, and caring for orphaned calves as a hand for the Hebdon ranch out of Chesterfield, Idaho.

MY POETRY

I have been writing poetry since 1976 and was first inspired to perform Cowboy Poetry by two cowboys performing poetry written by Wallace McRae and S. Omar Barker on a PBS television program.  Until that time I had no idea anybody else wrote or performed cowboy poetry.  The next few years of looking for it open my eyes to the wonderful world of what was out there, gatherings, in libraries, and the “National Cowboy Gathering” at Elko, NV.  That’s about the time I found “Cowboy Poets of Utah”.  It was just getting started and I wanted in.

The poetry I write is heavily influenced by my Western heritage, my own cowboy days, and places with names like Salt Creek, Afton, Devil’s Gate, Dirty Devil River, Bear Lake, Paris Idaho, Cache Valley, and Smithfield.

PERSONAL STATISTICS

AGE: 63

MARRIED:  37 years

CHILDREN:  5 boys, 1 girl (My 17 year old daughter, Erika, performs regularly with me.)