WLM
| arts
“C
ourage is being scared to death – and saddling
up anyway.” That is Thatch Elmer’s favorite
saying by John Wayne. He says it’s what he
lives his life by.
I had the distinct honor of interviewing this eleven-year-old cowboy poet from the Evanston area
recently. He was polite, courteous,
respectful, and appreciative. I knew
he would be because “it’s the cowboy way” and, after all, he is Cowboy Thatch – The Bear River Buckaroo!
This young man started reciting
cowboy poetry around the age of
five and life hasn’t been the same
for any of his family since! Thatch
tells me his dad, Brad Elmer, used to
write cowboy poetry when he was
younger. Thatch loved it so he took
it and went with it. He now writes
much of his own poetry but loves
to recite the classics such as Bruce
Kiskaddon, S. Omar Barker, and
Larry McWhorter.
In the past six years he has performed in Wyoming, Utah, Idaho,
Colorado and Arizona. He now has
so many bookings that it interferes
with regular school, so he will be
homeschooled this year as he enters
the fifth grade.
Inquiring about his rodeo connection, I learned that he rides miniature bulls and does break-a-way
and team roping, but the participation has become less since his cowboy poetry has increased so much.
He told me about a time he was to
ride a miniature bull. He did not
like the bull. Stretching both arms
out full length he stated the bull had
horns about that wide! He looked
the bull in the eye, knew he was
mean, and didn’t want to ride him.
He was going to back out but his
parents encouraged him not to do
that. It was one of those t