As Native Americans we have many bad memories of Cowboys. But one thing that is interesting that came out of the Cowboy culture is something called Cowboy or Western poetry. Cowboy poetry is a form of poetry which grew out of a tradition of extemporaneous composition carried on by workers on cattle drives and ranches. Illiteracy was common in olden days, so poetic forms were employed to aid memory. Because many people in the old west were illiterate they used these poems as books or to remember events of importance. This tradition no doubt followed people into California during the Gold Rush days. Today there is even events for those who are interested in continuing the art of Cowboy poetry.

There used to be an old publication out of Sonora California in Tuolumne County called The Pony Express. The publication re-told stories of old timers, early cowboys and pioneers as they pushed to the West in search of gold. We were looking through old publications of The Pony Express and came across this interesting gem, an old Western poem re-counting the story of James Savage.

James Savage was one of the first American pioneers who came to California. Savage was an early gold miner who searched for gold around the Yosemite area and was an enemy of the Paiutes as he pushed up into the Sierra Nevada in search of gold. He was well known by the whites in the area and was the leader of the Mariposa Battalion that reportedly "discovered" Yosemite Valley in 1851 as he chased down Chief Tenaya and his band of Ahwahneechees.

You can see the original poem from the old Pony Express describing James Savage in the photo gallery. We wrote it out and here it is below:

A FRONTIER CLAMPER MAN

Jim Savage was a frontier man,
Pioneer, trapper, guide.
With pretty squaws, it was his plan
To take’em for a bride.

To them old Jim was always true;
Faithful as stars above.
He never fell for eyes of blue,
Just amber inspired his love.

All Redskin tongues, sign language too,
Jim used ‘em far and wide.
He was a frontier Clamper man.
Pioneer, trapper, guide.

In sundry mines he made his sou,
Then walked the Moke Hill trail.
In Clamper style he wore the blue
Where Zumwalt gathered kail.

When Diggers dug their precious gold
They traded it for grog.
Hardware and whiskey Savage sold
For prices “on the hog.”

Warwhooped Yosemite’s Piute brave
In havoc ‘cross the land,
Came Mariposa’s boys to save
The law and order stand.

Yea, trading posts Jim ran galore,
Throughout the Southern mines,
Where Indians, with high grade ore,
Traded for Savage lines.

Alas, a knave of Harvey brand,
(Ignoble was his aim)
Layed poor Jim low in Tulare land.
There ended all his fame.

W.F.S.

We Yosemite-Mono Lake Paiutes were surprised with this old poem because it shows in one poem the true history of what we Paiutes knew and validifies our own history.

We are going to break it down for those who can't understand it.

The title "A FRONTIER CLAMPER MAN" means they are describing James Savage as a pioneer "clamper", a clamper is a fraternal organization dedicated to the study and preservation of Western Heritage, especially the history of the Mother Lode and gold mining regions of the area.

The first two stanzas, or paragraphs, of the poem describe the early California frontier and pioneer who had up seven to ten Miwok and other western foothill wives. Many of the them were barely girls.

The third stanza is very important because it says something we Paiutes knew, James (Jim) Savage spoke Miwok and the other western Sierra Nevada Indian foothill languages. These languages he learned from his many wives and the chiefs he had befriended. In the last line James Savage used his skill for languages to get them to work for him digging gold and working for his trading post.

The fourth stanza says Savage grew rich from the gold mines. That he wore blue denim like some of the early gold miners.

The fifth stanza says The California "Diggers" or tribes on the western side of the Sierra Nevada dug gold for James Savage and traded it for provisions supplied by Savage. The last line shows that he cheated them.

The sixth stanza says that the Yosemite Paiutes, yes Paiutes, where attacking the gold miners as the miners moved closer into their territory of Yosemite. They were trespassing into Paiute land. The last part of this stanza describes how the "Mariposa boys" or the Mariposa Battalion, led by James Savage himself, quelled Chief Tenaya and his band and stopped Paiutes from raiding and attacking the trespassing gold miners.

The seventh stanza says after stopping the 'troublesome' Paiutes that James Savage's trading post made 'Jim' Savage rich. The Southern Mines were located in the area of Tuolumne and Mariposa County. The poem says that Savage's Indian workers from the western side continued to mine gold and trade it with Savage for 'provisions'.

The eighth and last stanza recounts the end of James Savage. Jim Savage was shot and killed in 1852 by another frontier man named Harvey only a year after he 'discovered' Yosemite Valley. He was buried further south around Tulare County and that no matter how rich and famous Savage became death took him young.

So this Cowboy or Western poetry recounts the early story of James Savage, the "discoverer" of Yosemite, his Indian workers, and the Yosemite Paiutes who got in his way.

Interestingly Tuolumne County's Pony Express, which recounted old Western Cowboy poems and stories, knew more about Yosemite History than Yosemite National Park's Historians today.