(soft music) (birds chirping) -[R.P.]

"For 500 years, the American cattleman has revolved around seasons and cycles.

His life has revolved to boil it down to one statement that still holds true.

Take care of your cows and your grass.

They'll do their best to take care of you."

(soft music) (insects chirping) -[R.P.]

I was third out of four boys, our names all started with R. And Ronnie Paul was just too long and it got shortened to R.P.

and by the time we'd gone very far, I wasn't even deserving of the extra syllable and it was just down to Arp.

So.

(soft insects chirping) (guitar music) My great-grandfather and great-grandmother would come, and that was actually on the ground down on the South Loup.

That gets back into the 1800s.

And that was my mom's side of the family.

-[Narrator] R.P.

Smith's roots in Custer County reach back to the sod house era, when Solomon Butcher roamed the countryside, capturing his iconic photographs.

-[R.P.]

My dad enjoyed farming a lot more than I did, although he enjoyed the livestock too.

The percentage of farming genes seems to have gotten diluted out and we have become more livestock people.

(soft music) -[Narrator] Life as a rancher is just one side of who he is.

He's also a poet.

-[R.P.]

"He wears a wide brimmed hat, His legs are bowed.

There's no counting the calves he's wrestled or the miles he's rode.

Some say is breed is dying.

There ain't as many as before."

(engine rumbling) -[Narrator] Cowboy poetry is a niche tradition dating back to the days of the cattle trails.

It centers on the work and lifestyle of cowboys (door clank shut) who turn their daily experiences into verse.

(soft music) -[R.P.]

If you're not observant, you're just going to write the same poem over and over.

(soft music) It all comes back to here, maybe more than it should.

That connection with the livestock and the land is what gets me out of bed, and the rest of it's just icing on the cake.

(birds chirping) -[Johnny Carson] Tonight representing are Waddie Mitchell and Baxter Black, gentlemen.

(applause) - They found that plants feel pain.

Pain.

-[Carson] No, I don't know.

- Yeah!

And.

(laughing) (laughing) So that inspired this little piece titled "The Vegetarian's Nightmare."

-[Carson] Okay.

-[Narrator] The spark for R.P.

's poetry came one night while he was watching cowboy poets on a late night talk show.

-[Baxter] Tomatoes were wincing in fear!

(laughing) -[Narrator] But it was a call from a higher star that turned his life in a new direction.

(guitar music) -[R.P.]

I'd accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior.

And I think he just decided I (guitar music) needed to do something other than just follow cows around, which I was very content doing.

(guitar music) "500 years of droughts, blizzards, brand and fire smoke that wheel just keep turning.

(guitar music) We are part of the spoke."

(guitar music) -[Narrator] He wrote his first verse at 27.

It was about a bad day at a sale barn.

(guitar music) -[R.P.]

I had sold a that cow that day that I thought I had gotten a pretty short end of the stick kind of a deal.

I wrote a derogatory poem about cattle buyers and presented it to my best friend as a wedding gift.

That was how that started.

-[Narrator] Eventually, R.P.

began performing his poems locally.

He's performed in nearly every county in the state.

(guitar music) -[R.P.]

My dad, once I got going, he was the biggest promoter that I could have had.

He was pretty proud that I did the poetry.

-[R.P.]

"Three boys remounted.

Now he's taking a nap.

The cow goes right, she's making a break."

-[Narrator] Today He's a frequent performer at national gatherings, including the iconic Cowboy Poetry Festival in Elko, Nevada.

-[R.P.]

"My mom is to my right doing pony side passes.

My daughter to the left does not have her glasses."

(ground crunching) -[R.P.]

I'd say the poetry made me a better rancher, but probably hasn't made me a better parent.

I give my wife most of the credit.

I like Nebraska, where I could go do a show and get back in time for chores in the morning and kind of maintain a little more normalcy.

Our grandkids come every day after school.

(guitar music) We get them for a couple of hours every day and that's really cool.

There's an awful lot I don't have figured out, and I'm not doing a whole lot better with the grandkids, but it's not for lack of trying.

(guitar music) "He's had a good life on the northern Great Plains, and his hands feel best when they hold the reins."

(feet clomping) -[Narrator] While he writes about his appreciation for land, life and family and all the places they've taken him.

(guitar music) One question remains would R.P.

ever give up ranching for poetry?

-[R.P.]

Well, I'm pretty fortunate.

I mean, if I never do another show here, I'd still got something to do every day.

As long as I can do it.

I don't do the poetry so I can leave the ranch.

I do the poetry so I can stay.

(guitar music) "Such a buckaroo, mob you seldom will see.

A grandma, four kids, and a foreman.

That's me.

Trying to wrangle this motley crew.

So the cows are corralled when the evenings through.

As we enter the pasture, I lay out the plot and hope that everything works like it ought.

The cows are described by colors and numbers.

As my list gets longer, my help starts to slumber.

We need 301, She's a black brockle-face, her ear tag is green.

Check the blues just in case.

When you've got them paired up, use the gate by the tank.

Let's hustle, the clouds They're forming a bank.

My mom is to my right doing pony side passes.

My daughter to the left does not have her glasses.

And the boys are loping right through the main herd, singing without a discouraging word.

And I'm questioning if this job makes any sense.

When Tink nips a calf and it runs through the fence, then one of the boys comes back in a flash, Chasin' 031 on the 100 yard dash.

I thought you said red.

Is that that number right?

And the foreman, that's me, gets a little uptight.

Before we go further, I need to explain with grandmas and kids, you don't talk like John Wayne.

You very soon find if you give your tongue slack, that the help takes it in and then plays it all back.

And I said, I'm the foreman not the same as the boss.

She stays at headquarters, on my ears she might toss if she hears from the crew while they're hitting the hay.

An expanded vocabulary.

They heard daddy say.

Then I hear about it in a tone none too sweet.

When it comes to kids' minds, there's no hitting delete.

We need 301 her ear tag is green.

I yell it out louder and I sound kind of mean, but I hardly get noticed.

I sure wish I could whistle, the boys are playing tag, mom's pulling the thistle.

My daughter's horse is grazin' the grass.

If this is a test, well, I probably won't pass My mount It's a lope as I beller and blow, we never will finish if you keep moving slow.

Sis go Left.

Don't let him turn back.

Take back off and give him some slack.

Three boys on the ground, did they stumble and fall?

No, they dismounted when they heard nature call.

Take Sis.

Sis go!.

Mom, fill up the gap.

One boy has remounted.

Now he's taking a nap.

The cow goes right.

She's making a break.

I'm riding a Colt.

This could be a mistake.

Get in front of the cow.

I shout out in vain.

Dad!

My saddle slipping.

It's starting to rain.

Sis, help your brother.

Turn round, you old bat!

No, not you, mom!

Just stay where you're at, keep the calf with the cow.

Don't let them split up.

Go the other way now!

Oh, you crazy pup!

Tink, Sis.

Sis, go!.

Mom, turn toward the gate.

We'll take 'em on through.

You're doing just great.

Come over here, boys.

Don't be moving slow.

We've got one pair sorted.

(birds chirping) There's just a dozen to go."

(insects and birds chirping)