1 00:00:00,733 --> 00:00:01,666 (mid tempo music) 2 00:00:01,666 --> 00:00:03,000 - You are watching a production 3 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:04,733 of South Dakota Public Broadcasting. 4 00:00:04,733 --> 00:00:07,566 (mid tempo music) 5 00:00:11,966 --> 00:00:14,966 (effects whooshing) 6 00:00:20,833 --> 00:00:23,866 (gentle music) (seagulls squawking) 7 00:00:23,866 --> 00:00:27,533 - "I've got a date with the sky today, 8 00:00:27,533 --> 00:00:29,766 "The suns got into my veins. 9 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:35,666 "Soul, come on, let's loaf and play, 10 00:00:37,366 --> 00:00:40,800 "I've got a date with the sky today." 11 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:43,166 (gentle music) (seagulls squawking) 12 00:00:43,166 --> 00:00:46,433 - He saw beauty, he saw things to reflect on, 13 00:00:46,433 --> 00:00:47,933 at a time when there were just people 14 00:00:47,933 --> 00:00:50,266 holding on for survival. 15 00:00:50,266 --> 00:00:52,233 He helped people see and appreciate 16 00:00:52,233 --> 00:00:55,566 that there's more to South Dakota than just a rough life. 17 00:00:55,566 --> 00:00:58,566 (gentle music) 18 00:00:58,566 --> 00:01:01,233 - Free in one breath to laugh and play. 19 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,766 I've got a date with the sky today. 20 00:01:05,766 --> 00:01:08,066 (gentle music) 21 00:01:08,066 --> 00:01:11,700 - Before he became known as Badger Clark, Cowboy Poet, 22 00:01:11,700 --> 00:01:13,200 he was a college dropout. 23 00:01:14,300 --> 00:01:16,900 An early 20th century ranch hand, 24 00:01:16,900 --> 00:01:18,466 then a Cuban prisoner. 25 00:01:19,633 --> 00:01:21,100 The legacy of the man born 26 00:01:21,100 --> 00:01:24,800 Charlie Clark Jr., though, is literature. 27 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:26,466 An entire genre of literature 28 00:01:26,466 --> 00:01:29,000 sparked by the poetry of a man whose verses 29 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:32,200 are as timeless as the mountains he loved. 30 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:35,066 A writer who lived alone in the woods, 31 00:01:35,066 --> 00:01:37,433 pondering the rhythms of man and nature 32 00:01:37,433 --> 00:01:39,066 in the American West. 33 00:01:39,066 --> 00:01:41,100 (gentle music) 34 00:01:41,100 --> 00:01:42,600 Through his enduring work, 35 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:46,233 he paints vivid tapestries of nature's grace, 36 00:01:46,233 --> 00:01:49,300 immortalizes the ways of the old West, 37 00:01:49,300 --> 00:01:53,566 and captures the relentless trials that endured with him. 38 00:01:53,566 --> 00:01:55,833 - Badger Clark is probably not only 39 00:01:55,833 --> 00:01:57,533 the godfather of cowboy poetry, 40 00:01:57,533 --> 00:01:59,400 but the godfather of South Dakota. 41 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:03,000 - His writings and poems stand up today, 42 00:02:04,066 --> 00:02:06,000 because they're relevant to being human, 43 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:09,866 very relevant to being a human being 44 00:02:09,866 --> 00:02:12,000 on the face of this earth, 45 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:15,900 before all of the other exterior things 46 00:02:15,900 --> 00:02:17,966 that involve your life 47 00:02:17,966 --> 00:02:20,866 and the complexities of life surround you. 48 00:02:22,066 --> 00:02:25,900 Before all that, there's Badger Clark's writings. 49 00:02:25,900 --> 00:02:29,233 (gentle music) 50 00:02:29,233 --> 00:02:34,233 (keyboard clicking) (gentle music) 51 00:02:41,866 --> 00:02:44,666 - Major funding for "Badger Clark Poet Among the Pines," 52 00:02:44,666 --> 00:02:47,400 is provided by the Badger Clark Foundation, 53 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,266 in memory of R. Brooks Christenson. 54 00:02:50,266 --> 00:02:53,233 - Donors to the Explore South Dakota Fund 55 00:02:53,233 --> 00:02:55,733 support the production of local documentaries 56 00:02:55,733 --> 00:03:00,233 and other programs of local interest, presented by SDPB. 57 00:03:00,233 --> 00:03:01,400 Friends of SDPB 58 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:03,733 appreciates their support of this program. 59 00:03:03,733 --> 00:03:07,333 - Additional support for poet among the Pines is provided by 60 00:03:07,333 --> 00:03:08,833 Custer State Park, 61 00:03:08,833 --> 00:03:12,266 where Granite Peaks and the wide open prairie are calling. 62 00:03:12,266 --> 00:03:15,900 Your adventure is awaiting among the Ponderosa Pines. 63 00:03:15,900 --> 00:03:18,233 Custer State Park, open year round. 64 00:03:22,866 --> 00:03:25,700 (gentle music) 65 00:03:25,700 --> 00:03:27,566 - Charles Badger Clark Jr. 66 00:03:27,566 --> 00:03:32,266 Was born on New Year's Day 1883 in Albion, Iowa, 67 00:03:32,266 --> 00:03:36,066 to Mary Ellen Clark and the Reverend Charles Clark, 68 00:03:36,066 --> 00:03:38,233 a Methodist minister who was wounded twice 69 00:03:38,233 --> 00:03:41,066 while serving with the Union Army during the Civil War. 70 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:45,666 - His father had been invilated out of the Civil War 71 00:03:45,666 --> 00:03:46,900 and never really recovered, 72 00:03:46,900 --> 00:03:49,800 and doctors had come up with different ways 73 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:51,900 for him to have a longer life. 74 00:03:51,900 --> 00:03:55,200 They advised him to become a farmer. 75 00:03:56,433 --> 00:03:58,133 - When Charlie was three months old, 76 00:03:58,133 --> 00:04:00,566 the family joined the Dakota boom, 77 00:04:00,566 --> 00:04:02,933 homesteading near Plankinton, South Dakota. 78 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:07,300 When they weren't busting sod, they read literature, 79 00:04:07,300 --> 00:04:10,900 Dickens, Hugo, Tennyson and the Bible. 80 00:04:12,033 --> 00:04:13,533 But it was the howling wind 81 00:04:13,533 --> 00:04:15,700 blowing across the prairie landscape 82 00:04:15,700 --> 00:04:17,266 that left an early impression. 83 00:04:17,266 --> 00:04:18,633 (wind howling) 84 00:04:18,633 --> 00:04:21,033 - "It hissed through the shaken grasses, 85 00:04:21,033 --> 00:04:23,733 "Rushing and swung by, 86 00:04:24,633 --> 00:04:26,200 "Flailing the empty land 87 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:29,166 "Under an empty sky. 88 00:04:29,166 --> 00:04:33,000 "And I looked out the window, a boy of six or so, 89 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:35,133 "Wondering where the wind came from, 90 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:38,266 "And whether it all could go." 91 00:04:38,266 --> 00:04:40,933 (gentle music) 92 00:04:42,333 --> 00:04:45,933 - They had a phrase for Charlie, he was the youngest, 93 00:04:45,933 --> 00:04:49,033 and so he had these two much older brothers, 94 00:04:49,033 --> 00:04:51,133 but they'd be sitting around the kitchen table 95 00:04:51,133 --> 00:04:52,966 or wherever in the house, 96 00:04:52,966 --> 00:04:54,566 and he'd pipe up to say something, 97 00:04:54,566 --> 00:04:55,833 and they'd say, 98 00:04:55,833 --> 00:04:57,033 "Hold everything. 99 00:04:57,033 --> 00:04:58,566 "Listen to the voice of the wind, 100 00:04:58,566 --> 00:05:01,800 "for the man with the big ears speaks." 101 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:05,366 And this was a wonderful put down that he waited for. 102 00:05:05,366 --> 00:05:06,433 He expected it. 103 00:05:07,366 --> 00:05:09,033 - With his health improving, 104 00:05:09,033 --> 00:05:11,866 Reverend Clark gave up the Plankiton homestead 105 00:05:11,866 --> 00:05:13,400 and turned to the pulpit. 106 00:05:14,566 --> 00:05:16,666 He ran a parish in nearby Mitchell, 107 00:05:16,666 --> 00:05:18,666 and was part of a group that helped to promote 108 00:05:18,666 --> 00:05:20,400 Dakota Wesleyan University. 109 00:05:21,533 --> 00:05:23,666 It's where Charlie's older brother, Frederick 110 00:05:23,666 --> 00:05:24,833 attended college. 111 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:28,733 Fred was known as the brightest kid in the family, 112 00:05:28,733 --> 00:05:31,033 with a promising speaking career ahead of him. 113 00:05:32,033 --> 00:05:33,400 But Frederick Clark died 114 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:37,200 on August 23rd, 1894, of tuberculosis. 115 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:40,800 - He was going to do what his brother was doing, 116 00:05:42,800 --> 00:05:45,000 and his brother was already very successful 117 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:46,400 in higher education. 118 00:05:47,333 --> 00:05:49,933 And then to lose him like that, 119 00:05:49,933 --> 00:05:52,533 then that kinda left him without a rudder. 120 00:05:52,533 --> 00:05:55,000 - Tuberculosis was terrifying. 121 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:56,433 If you got it, 122 00:05:56,433 --> 00:05:58,466 there was a very good chance you would not recover. 123 00:05:58,466 --> 00:06:01,866 You might have to be isolated in a sanitarium. 124 00:06:01,866 --> 00:06:04,600 And it was scary. 125 00:06:04,600 --> 00:06:05,433 I mean, 126 00:06:07,700 --> 00:06:09,766 you had death staring you in the face. 127 00:06:09,766 --> 00:06:11,500 There was no cure then. 128 00:06:11,500 --> 00:06:13,600 And at the very best, 129 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:15,066 you were probably gonna have to go away 130 00:06:15,066 --> 00:06:20,033 and be isolated with other patients in a special facility. 131 00:06:20,033 --> 00:06:22,366 And everybody knew about it. 132 00:06:22,366 --> 00:06:25,500 And if you knew he had been exposed, 133 00:06:25,500 --> 00:06:28,200 it's sort of like, "Well, when is it my turn?" 134 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:30,766 - His mother, 135 00:06:30,766 --> 00:06:33,200 who had been the caregiver for Fred 136 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:36,566 for all those years, many years, 137 00:06:36,566 --> 00:06:39,733 not surprisingly, she too had consumption, 138 00:06:39,733 --> 00:06:41,700 and which is transmitted. 139 00:06:41,700 --> 00:06:45,800 Think of the time she sat right next to her son 140 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:47,733 as he was coughing directly on her. 141 00:06:47,733 --> 00:06:50,700 And that is exactly the way this is transmitted. 142 00:06:50,700 --> 00:06:53,133 And this was before antibiotics. 143 00:06:53,133 --> 00:06:55,966 - After Mary Ellen was diagnosed with TB, 144 00:06:55,966 --> 00:06:57,766 Reverend Clark accepted a call 145 00:06:57,766 --> 00:07:00,200 to be the pastor for the Deadwood Methodist Church 146 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:01,933 in the Black Hills. 147 00:07:01,933 --> 00:07:04,733 - They moved to the Black Hills with the idea 148 00:07:04,733 --> 00:07:09,300 that the mountain air would prolong his dear wife's life. 149 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:12,366 And that was not to be. 150 00:07:14,100 --> 00:07:19,100 - Mary Ellen died on October 7th, 1898 at the age of 54. 151 00:07:19,966 --> 00:07:21,300 Charlie was 15 years old. 152 00:07:23,366 --> 00:07:25,800 (machine whirring) 153 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:29,966 Deadwood in the early 19 hundreds was a rough and wild town 154 00:07:29,966 --> 00:07:33,166 known for its lawlessness and gold rush. 155 00:07:33,166 --> 00:07:34,500 - Deadwood had a lot of saloons, 156 00:07:34,500 --> 00:07:36,366 it had a lot of prostitution. 157 00:07:36,366 --> 00:07:37,833 In some ways it was struggling. 158 00:07:37,833 --> 00:07:40,333 It was still trying to find an identity for itself. 159 00:07:40,333 --> 00:07:43,066 'Cause Lead is where the big gold mine was. 160 00:07:43,066 --> 00:07:44,966 So it was a rough town, but he did, 161 00:07:44,966 --> 00:07:48,733 because of his father see a different side of Deadwood. 162 00:07:48,733 --> 00:07:52,033 His father, when nobody else wanted to do it, 163 00:07:52,033 --> 00:07:54,600 conducted the funeral for calamity Jane. 164 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:55,900 - She was such a character 165 00:07:55,900 --> 00:07:57,400 that no church in town 166 00:07:57,400 --> 00:07:59,700 would give her a formal church burial. 167 00:07:59,700 --> 00:08:01,800 They were gonna bury her in city hall. 168 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,200 And now that the reverend said, 169 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:08,066 "No, I'm gonna give her a proper burial in my church." 170 00:08:08,066 --> 00:08:10,766 - And that tells you something about the Clark family. 171 00:08:11,933 --> 00:08:14,166 They were always looking for good. 172 00:08:14,166 --> 00:08:15,233 They weren't judging, 173 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:18,400 and even calamity Jane 174 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:21,100 deserved a respectful funeral at the end. 175 00:08:21,100 --> 00:08:24,866 - He was in terrific awe of his father. 176 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:27,566 Thought of him almost as a saint. 177 00:08:28,933 --> 00:08:32,600 - Charlie attended and graduated from Deadwood High School. 178 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:35,900 There in the old mining town of the Black Hills, 179 00:08:35,900 --> 00:08:37,733 he found love. 180 00:08:37,733 --> 00:08:40,366 Helen Fowler was a fellow classmate 181 00:08:40,366 --> 00:08:42,833 and the daughter of a Deadwood attorney. 182 00:08:42,833 --> 00:08:44,333 They were quickly engaged. 183 00:08:45,466 --> 00:08:49,566 - Helen's parents knew this young suitor. 184 00:08:49,566 --> 00:08:52,966 And he's a son of a minister, a son of a preacher. 185 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:55,200 He has no job, 186 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:57,466 his prospects are very slim. 187 00:08:57,466 --> 00:09:00,900 And so, yes, they were not in favor of this. 188 00:09:00,900 --> 00:09:03,166 - Helen would soon call off the engagement. 189 00:09:04,266 --> 00:09:07,000 - I think Helen Fowler broke his heart, 190 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:08,566 his old high school girlfriend, 191 00:09:08,566 --> 00:09:10,100 and I don't think he ever got over it. 192 00:09:10,100 --> 00:09:13,533 - I think she was a very intelligent woman. 193 00:09:14,700 --> 00:09:17,800 She was seeing what this young man needed 194 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:20,200 and also how he needed to develop. 195 00:09:21,666 --> 00:09:25,800 - In 1901, Charlie's father married Anna Rachel Morris, 196 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:27,500 who was a school teacher, 197 00:09:27,500 --> 00:09:30,200 a member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, 198 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:31,566 and an amateur poet. 199 00:09:33,100 --> 00:09:37,033 That fall Charlie attended Dakota Wesleyan University. 200 00:09:37,033 --> 00:09:40,966 - Whereby God, his father helped to build that college. 201 00:09:40,966 --> 00:09:43,633 And where his brother, Fred excelled. 202 00:09:43,633 --> 00:09:46,166 Yes, there's no other direction, 203 00:09:46,166 --> 00:09:48,666 but he has to go to this school. 204 00:09:48,666 --> 00:09:52,000 And he's diligent working through his freshman year. 205 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:56,866 And there are different stories about how it went wrong. 206 00:09:56,866 --> 00:10:01,466 He had this habit of smoking and that got him in trouble. 207 00:10:01,466 --> 00:10:03,833 And maybe that was the whole problem, 208 00:10:04,833 --> 00:10:06,533 but then there are other stories 209 00:10:06,533 --> 00:10:09,800 about where he was getting into some mischief 210 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:12,533 and he brought a animal 211 00:10:12,533 --> 00:10:17,533 into a dormitory or somebody's office. 212 00:10:18,700 --> 00:10:19,633 And I don't wanna say anything more about that 213 00:10:19,633 --> 00:10:21,100 because that's just conjecture, 214 00:10:21,100 --> 00:10:24,066 but he got into some trouble at the school, 215 00:10:24,066 --> 00:10:28,300 and then he's no longer going to Dakota Wesleyan. 216 00:10:28,300 --> 00:10:30,800 (gentle music) 217 00:10:30,800 --> 00:10:32,033 Well after college, 218 00:10:32,033 --> 00:10:33,266 now he's at loose ends 219 00:10:33,266 --> 00:10:34,900 and he's probably not 220 00:10:34,900 --> 00:10:37,800 in good relations with his father, now. 221 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:39,633 (gentle music) 222 00:10:39,633 --> 00:10:42,466 You might say this is a desperate time for him 223 00:10:42,466 --> 00:10:44,200 to resolve something. 224 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:47,766 And then there's this adventure going on in Cuba. 225 00:10:47,766 --> 00:10:50,400 - Wanting to be part of a grand adventure, 226 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:52,866 he joined a Cuban bound colonization group 227 00:10:52,866 --> 00:10:55,033 that was based out of Mitchell. 228 00:10:55,033 --> 00:10:57,266 - There are people that are being oppressed, 229 00:10:57,266 --> 00:10:59,033 and there are people that need help, 230 00:10:59,033 --> 00:11:02,033 and by golly, he's going to Cuba. 231 00:11:02,033 --> 00:11:03,966 Seemed like a good out. 232 00:11:03,966 --> 00:11:08,500 - So you took a bunch of farmers from the upper Midwest 233 00:11:08,500 --> 00:11:12,733 and said, "Hey, come here, we have this land. 234 00:11:12,733 --> 00:11:14,333 "You can get a farm. 235 00:11:14,333 --> 00:11:17,833 "We'll grow pineapples and oranges and stuff." 236 00:11:17,833 --> 00:11:21,233 - The colonization effort failed within months. 237 00:11:21,233 --> 00:11:22,800 While the rest of the colonizers 238 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:25,133 hurried back to the United States, 239 00:11:25,133 --> 00:11:28,300 Charlie stayed and found a job working on a plantation. 240 00:11:29,700 --> 00:11:32,500 One day, his employer shot and wounded a neighbor 241 00:11:32,500 --> 00:11:35,533 during a dispute while digging up pineapple plants. 242 00:11:36,633 --> 00:11:38,466 - When all of a said and done, 243 00:11:38,466 --> 00:11:42,533 he was around when there was a non-fatal shooting. 244 00:11:42,533 --> 00:11:45,700 And it wasn't him that pulled the trigger, 245 00:11:45,700 --> 00:11:50,133 he wasn't any of that, but he was incarcerated. 246 00:11:50,133 --> 00:11:52,000 He did not endure, 247 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:56,600 there was no beatings or torture or anything like that, 248 00:11:56,600 --> 00:11:58,566 and I'm sure he got to improve his Spanish. 249 00:11:58,566 --> 00:12:00,300 And he said there were some other Americans 250 00:12:00,300 --> 00:12:03,433 that were incarcerated and they all sort lamented. 251 00:12:03,433 --> 00:12:08,400 But eventually money was raised to bail him out. 252 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:10,933 - He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. 253 00:12:10,933 --> 00:12:13,266 And when they released him, they said, 254 00:12:13,266 --> 00:12:14,600 "Get outta town." 255 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:16,800 - He quickly returned to South Dakota 256 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:20,800 and found a job working as a land surveyor in the Badlands. 257 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:24,600 But he soon developed a persistent cough and fell ill. 258 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:26,633 - And he'd been going downhill for a long time 259 00:12:26,633 --> 00:12:28,900 and not complaining about it at all. 260 00:12:28,900 --> 00:12:31,633 Somebody finally made him go to the doctor. 261 00:12:31,633 --> 00:12:33,866 - He was diagnosed with tuberculosis. 262 00:12:35,433 --> 00:12:37,900 Based on his family history with the disease, 263 00:12:37,900 --> 00:12:41,233 doctors advised he move to a warmer climate. 264 00:12:41,233 --> 00:12:45,533 So in April of 1906, at the age of 23, 265 00:12:45,533 --> 00:12:47,633 Charlie moved to the desert. 266 00:12:47,633 --> 00:12:48,933 He became a caretaker 267 00:12:48,933 --> 00:12:51,033 of the Cross Eye, quarter Circle Ranch 268 00:12:51,033 --> 00:12:53,800 outside Tombstone, Arizona. 269 00:12:53,800 --> 00:12:56,433 - It was absolute, as far as I can tell, 270 00:12:56,433 --> 00:13:00,066 it was absolute just pure luck that he met somebody, 271 00:13:01,266 --> 00:13:03,733 who introduced him to the Kendall Brothers. 272 00:13:03,733 --> 00:13:06,500 And they needed somebody, they couldn't pay him, 273 00:13:06,500 --> 00:13:07,866 but they could feed him 274 00:13:07,866 --> 00:13:10,833 and give him a place to stay for free. 275 00:13:10,833 --> 00:13:15,400 And their only question when they interviewed him was, 276 00:13:16,266 --> 00:13:17,233 "Do you have a saddle? 277 00:13:17,233 --> 00:13:18,066 "No," 278 00:13:18,066 --> 00:13:19,500 "Get one." 279 00:13:19,500 --> 00:13:21,933 So he went and bought a saddle, took him out to the ranch. 280 00:13:21,933 --> 00:13:26,733 And on May 1st in 1906, he was now a cowboy caretaker. 281 00:13:26,733 --> 00:13:30,300 (mid tempo country music) 282 00:13:31,733 --> 00:13:34,933 - To the North and East, rose the dragon Mountains, 283 00:13:34,933 --> 00:13:38,600 a landscape that reminded him of his place in the universe, 284 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:41,500 the beauty and power of the natural world, 285 00:13:41,500 --> 00:13:44,633 and of the infinite possibilities that exist within it. 286 00:13:45,766 --> 00:13:48,100 His nearest neighbor lived seven miles away. 287 00:13:48,100 --> 00:13:51,666 (mid tempo country music) 288 00:13:54,433 --> 00:13:56,800 Any symptoms of Charlie's tuberculosis 289 00:13:56,800 --> 00:13:59,533 disappeared within six months. 290 00:13:59,533 --> 00:14:02,400 - He arrived there, insecure, 291 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:04,900 unsure of what his future was like. 292 00:14:06,300 --> 00:14:09,866 Was he gonna die alone in this old Adobe house? 293 00:14:09,866 --> 00:14:14,100 I mean, that was obviously had to be somewhere in his... 294 00:14:14,100 --> 00:14:16,966 But he's feeling better every day, 295 00:14:16,966 --> 00:14:19,466 and all of a sudden he's feeling great. 296 00:14:19,466 --> 00:14:23,100 So he wants to reassure his parents that he's feeling fine. 297 00:14:23,100 --> 00:14:25,333 (mid tempo country music) 298 00:14:25,333 --> 00:14:28,266 - He was so enamored with the whole thing 299 00:14:28,266 --> 00:14:31,266 about Arizona cowboy culture, cows. 300 00:14:31,266 --> 00:14:33,733 (gentle music) 301 00:14:33,733 --> 00:14:35,700 He couldn't contain himself. 302 00:14:37,100 --> 00:14:40,500 And he wrote a poem about it, sent it to his stepmother, 303 00:14:40,500 --> 00:14:43,866 and she sent it to a magazine and they published it. 304 00:14:44,733 --> 00:14:47,566 And he was just gobsmacked. 305 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:51,400 - The poem was called "Ridin'." 306 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:55,366 "Sunset Magazine" published it in July of 1903 307 00:14:55,366 --> 00:14:57,933 and sent him a check for $10. 308 00:14:57,933 --> 00:14:59,766 (gentle music) 309 00:14:59,766 --> 00:15:01,966 - "There is some that like the city 310 00:15:01,966 --> 00:15:04,766 "Grass that's curried smooth and green, 311 00:15:04,766 --> 00:15:06,466 "Theaytres and stranglin' collars, 312 00:15:06,466 --> 00:15:08,800 "Wagons run by gasoline, 313 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:10,433 "But for me it's hawse and saddle, 314 00:15:10,433 --> 00:15:11,900 "Every day without a change, 315 00:15:11,900 --> 00:15:13,266 "And a desert sun a-blazin' 316 00:15:13,266 --> 00:15:15,133 "on a hundred miles of range. 317 00:15:15,133 --> 00:15:16,333 "Just a-ridin', a-ridin' 318 00:15:17,966 --> 00:15:20,800 "I don't envy anyone when I'm ridin'." 319 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:24,200 (gentle music) 320 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:26,700 - "I don't need no art exhibits 321 00:15:26,700 --> 00:15:28,500 "When the sunset does her best, 322 00:15:30,300 --> 00:15:32,033 "Paintin' everlastin' glory 323 00:15:33,533 --> 00:15:36,266 "On the mountains to the West." 324 00:15:36,266 --> 00:15:37,600 (gentle music) 325 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:40,733 - The subject is freedom. (gentle music) 326 00:15:40,733 --> 00:15:43,433 That you have work to do, 327 00:15:43,433 --> 00:15:45,366 you have responsibilities, 328 00:15:45,366 --> 00:15:50,333 but you can be out and you can ride for miles and hours 329 00:15:52,733 --> 00:15:56,666 and not encounter a fence or even another person. 330 00:15:57,833 --> 00:16:00,866 And it was just the wide open spaces. 331 00:16:01,966 --> 00:16:04,266 And hat's what" Ridin'" seems to be about. 332 00:16:05,433 --> 00:16:08,200 - That's what give him fuel for poetry. 333 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:10,800 And that's what cowboy poetry is, 334 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:15,366 really is recording history through verse. 335 00:16:17,033 --> 00:16:19,200 - "And your oprey looks foolish, 336 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:21,166 "When the night bird starts his tune, 337 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:27,400 "And the desert silver mounted by the touches of the moon." 338 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:28,900 (gentle music) 339 00:16:28,900 --> 00:16:32,100 - And so he's not only describing the place, 340 00:16:32,100 --> 00:16:35,366 and the dust devils and these other things, 341 00:16:35,366 --> 00:16:36,733 and in the very end, 342 00:16:36,733 --> 00:16:38,500 the last verse, he goes, 343 00:16:38,500 --> 00:16:39,666 "Ridin', ridin' 344 00:16:39,666 --> 00:16:41,666 "Nothin' I'd like half so well 345 00:16:41,666 --> 00:16:43,066 "As a-roundin' up the sinners 346 00:16:43,066 --> 00:16:44,200 "That have wandered out of Hell 347 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:47,133 "And a-ridin'." (gentle music) 348 00:16:47,133 --> 00:16:49,000 He also apologized to his father 349 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:50,966 for having used the word hell. 350 00:16:50,966 --> 00:16:53,800 He couldn't think of any other way 351 00:16:55,066 --> 00:16:57,300 for a man was writing and metered first. 352 00:16:57,300 --> 00:16:58,233 He goes, 353 00:16:58,233 --> 00:16:59,166 "Nothin' I'd like half so well 354 00:16:59,166 --> 00:17:00,400 "As a-roundin' up the sinners 355 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:01,066 "That have wandered out of Hell," 356 00:17:01,066 --> 00:17:02,333 and you go, 357 00:17:02,333 --> 00:17:03,700 "Well, what was he gonna say, Hades?" 358 00:17:03,700 --> 00:17:05,766 No, that's two syllables. 359 00:17:05,766 --> 00:17:07,600 He needed a one syllable for it. 360 00:17:08,966 --> 00:17:12,133 And I can't imagine a grown man writing his father 361 00:17:12,133 --> 00:17:15,966 apologizing for having used the word hell. 362 00:17:17,266 --> 00:17:18,733 - He must have looked at it and said, 363 00:17:18,733 --> 00:17:22,066 "Well, here's this guy from Arizona with South Dakota roots 364 00:17:22,066 --> 00:17:24,233 "can really write poetry." 365 00:17:24,233 --> 00:17:27,800 And I think it really meant a lot to him. (chuckling) 366 00:17:27,800 --> 00:17:30,433 He said, "Shoot, if I can get paid to do this, 367 00:17:30,433 --> 00:17:31,800 "I'm gonna do it." 368 00:17:31,800 --> 00:17:35,266 (gentle music) 369 00:17:35,266 --> 00:17:38,233 - He'd spend the next four years riding horses, 370 00:17:38,233 --> 00:17:41,233 caring for cattle and penning poetic verses 371 00:17:41,233 --> 00:17:45,133 on the mundane routine of toiling on the unbound landscape. 372 00:17:46,433 --> 00:17:49,266 - "'Twas good to live when all the sod, 373 00:17:49,266 --> 00:17:52,300 "Without no fence or fuss, 374 00:17:52,300 --> 00:17:55,100 "Belonged in partnership to God, 375 00:17:55,100 --> 00:17:57,066 "The Gover'ment and us. 376 00:17:58,233 --> 00:18:02,166 "With skyline bounds from east to west 377 00:18:02,166 --> 00:18:04,900 "And room to go and come, 378 00:18:06,333 --> 00:18:08,333 "I loved my fellow man the best 379 00:18:09,433 --> 00:18:10,933 "When he was scattered some. 380 00:18:10,933 --> 00:18:12,733 (gentle music) 381 00:18:12,733 --> 00:18:14,166 - "I loved my fellow man the best 382 00:18:14,166 --> 00:18:15,700 "When he was scattered some." 383 00:18:16,900 --> 00:18:19,366 That just gets right to the heart of me. 384 00:18:21,966 --> 00:18:24,566 It's good when you can have some space around you. 385 00:18:26,300 --> 00:18:31,300 - A lot of his poems are just about the day-to-day struggles 386 00:18:32,633 --> 00:18:37,466 of just meeting the challenges of everyday life 387 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:41,700 and the challenges presented by other people 388 00:18:41,700 --> 00:18:45,300 and trying to discipline yourself, 389 00:18:45,300 --> 00:18:48,566 trying to have focus and trying to... 390 00:18:48,566 --> 00:18:50,700 You know what you want to happen, 391 00:18:50,700 --> 00:18:53,333 but it's a struggle to get from there to there. 392 00:18:53,333 --> 00:18:55,233 (gentle music) (crickets chirping) 393 00:18:55,233 --> 00:18:58,666 - "When my trail stretches out to the edge of the sky 394 00:18:58,666 --> 00:19:02,900 "Through the desert so empty and bright, 395 00:19:02,900 --> 00:19:06,300 "When I'm watchin' the miles as they go crawlin' by 396 00:19:07,500 --> 00:19:09,633 "And a-hopin' I'll get there by night." 397 00:19:11,633 --> 00:19:16,366 - I think he was writing for a world 398 00:19:16,366 --> 00:19:18,333 that looked upon cowboys 399 00:19:18,333 --> 00:19:23,333 as inferior laborers sort of surfs. 400 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:25,700 And he wanted the world to know 401 00:19:25,700 --> 00:19:28,400 that they're smarter than that, 402 00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:31,200 and valuable human beings. 403 00:19:32,666 --> 00:19:34,833 Even if they don't do anything 404 00:19:34,833 --> 00:19:39,366 but the labor that the rest of us don't want to do, 405 00:19:39,366 --> 00:19:40,700 they are so valuable, 406 00:19:40,700 --> 00:19:44,666 and we often paint, "Oh, that's just somebody, 407 00:19:44,666 --> 00:19:46,666 "some poor schmuck that never got an education 408 00:19:46,666 --> 00:19:49,933 "and is working." (gentle music) 409 00:19:49,933 --> 00:19:52,200 - You know, I say he was a ranch sitter. 410 00:19:54,033 --> 00:19:57,100 The owners would be out working with cattle, 411 00:19:57,100 --> 00:20:00,300 and he was there to tend to the fences, 412 00:20:00,300 --> 00:20:02,166 tend to the animals there, 413 00:20:02,166 --> 00:20:03,866 whatever needs to be done. 414 00:20:03,866 --> 00:20:06,600 And then sometimes passers by would come by 415 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:08,800 and he would take care of their needs, 416 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:10,800 but most of the time he was alone. 417 00:20:12,133 --> 00:20:15,000 And that seemed to suit him just fine. 418 00:20:16,100 --> 00:20:17,333 And he would, 419 00:20:17,333 --> 00:20:18,633 in the evenings when all the work was done, 420 00:20:18,633 --> 00:20:21,000 he'd go and sit out on the porch, 421 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:22,500 and get out his guitar 422 00:20:22,500 --> 00:20:26,166 and sing to the stars in the Dragoon mountain. 423 00:20:27,866 --> 00:20:29,300 - He would write something 424 00:20:29,300 --> 00:20:31,533 and then he would play a little bit of it on his guitar 425 00:20:31,533 --> 00:20:35,700 just to see if it had the right meter to it. 426 00:20:35,700 --> 00:20:37,433 Because a lot of times poets will write 427 00:20:37,433 --> 00:20:39,633 and their lines will extend off the page, 428 00:20:39,633 --> 00:20:42,033 and you really can't bring it together 429 00:20:42,033 --> 00:20:44,933 and put it into music very easily. 430 00:20:44,933 --> 00:20:48,300 (gentle music) 431 00:20:48,300 --> 00:20:51,033 - One day his stepmother encouraged him to write a poem 432 00:20:51,033 --> 00:20:53,000 reflecting a cowboy's religion. 433 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:54,400 (gentle music) 434 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:56,233 - And he replied that 435 00:20:56,233 --> 00:21:00,366 he didn't have any experience with cowboys praying. 436 00:21:01,266 --> 00:21:03,666 They would sometimes use words 437 00:21:03,666 --> 00:21:05,100 that you would find in the Bible, 438 00:21:05,100 --> 00:21:08,100 but they were not in a prayerful spirit. 439 00:21:08,100 --> 00:21:10,300 But his mother persisted. 440 00:21:10,300 --> 00:21:14,200 And so he wrote a poem about a cowboy's prayer. 441 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:17,066 - One of my favorite lines that he ever wrote was, 442 00:21:18,466 --> 00:21:21,300 "Oh Lord, I've never lived where churches grow." 443 00:21:21,300 --> 00:21:24,233 What a fantastic line that is. 444 00:21:24,233 --> 00:21:26,333 (gentle music) 445 00:21:26,333 --> 00:21:30,000 - "Oh Lord, I've never lived where churches grow. 446 00:21:31,166 --> 00:21:33,200 "I love creation better as it stood 447 00:21:34,466 --> 00:21:37,500 "That day You finished it so long ago 448 00:21:39,266 --> 00:21:42,533 "And looked upon Your work and called it good." 449 00:21:42,533 --> 00:21:44,466 (gentle music) 450 00:21:44,466 --> 00:21:46,000 - "I know that others find You in the light 451 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:47,933 "That's sifted down through tinted window panes, 452 00:21:47,933 --> 00:21:50,066 "And yet I seem to feel You near tonight 453 00:21:50,066 --> 00:21:53,300 "In this dim, quiet starlight on the plains." 454 00:21:53,300 --> 00:21:55,933 (gentle music) 455 00:21:55,933 --> 00:21:57,500 Yes, who doesn't feel that? 456 00:21:58,966 --> 00:22:01,833 You look up into the stars and you see the great infinity, 457 00:22:01,833 --> 00:22:03,600 and, you get that. 458 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:05,333 (gentle music) 459 00:22:05,333 --> 00:22:07,600 - He felt all the spiritual, 460 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:12,600 the Christian stuff in a setting that wasn't in a church. 461 00:22:13,766 --> 00:22:16,800 And I think those are really courageous things 462 00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:18,500 for him to say. 463 00:22:18,500 --> 00:22:20,033 (gentle music) 464 00:22:20,033 --> 00:22:23,466 - "Let me be easy on the man that's down; 465 00:22:23,466 --> 00:22:26,900 "Let me be square and generous with all. 466 00:22:28,100 --> 00:22:31,400 "I'm careless sometimes, Lord, when I'm in town, 467 00:22:32,566 --> 00:22:36,333 "But never let 'em say I'm mean or small!" 468 00:22:36,333 --> 00:22:38,166 (gentle music) 469 00:22:38,166 --> 00:22:42,533 - I think part of it is his upbringing from his father 470 00:22:42,533 --> 00:22:45,400 that gives him a connection 471 00:22:47,900 --> 00:22:49,833 to the Lord above 472 00:22:49,833 --> 00:22:53,066 and the connection to the nature around him 473 00:22:53,066 --> 00:22:56,533 and his place in all of this. 474 00:22:57,766 --> 00:23:00,533 And I think what he's giving 475 00:23:00,533 --> 00:23:04,266 is a pretty honest assessment of himself 476 00:23:04,266 --> 00:23:06,366 as well as the world around him. 477 00:23:06,366 --> 00:23:11,300 And I think that anyone can see themselves in this poem. 478 00:23:14,166 --> 00:23:16,400 - "I thank You, Lord, that I am placed so well, 479 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:19,266 "That You have made my freedom so complete; 480 00:23:19,266 --> 00:23:22,633 "That I'm no slave of whistle, clock or bell, 481 00:23:22,633 --> 00:23:24,966 "Nor weak-eyed prisoner of wall and street. 482 00:23:24,966 --> 00:23:27,466 He appreciated it, 483 00:23:27,466 --> 00:23:29,933 and I think other people said, 484 00:23:29,933 --> 00:23:31,000 "well, I, 485 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:33,000 "maybe I could live out 486 00:23:33,000 --> 00:23:35,833 "for going out in the desert or something." 487 00:23:35,833 --> 00:23:37,333 (gentle music) 488 00:23:37,333 --> 00:23:40,700 - Of the 62 published poems he wrote in the Arizona Desert, 489 00:23:40,700 --> 00:23:43,633 none has as much far reaching popularity 490 00:23:43,633 --> 00:23:45,500 as "A Cowboy's Prayer." 491 00:23:45,500 --> 00:23:46,800 (gentle music) 492 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:48,266 - It was written years ago. 493 00:23:48,266 --> 00:23:51,500 There's hardly a rodeo that they don't recite it 494 00:23:51,500 --> 00:23:55,200 and funerals. (gentle music) 495 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:57,666 I used to play the organ for rodeos, 496 00:23:57,666 --> 00:24:00,100 and I played for a lot of funerals, 497 00:24:00,100 --> 00:24:02,433 and I've heard it many times. 498 00:24:02,433 --> 00:24:04,133 Old ranchers, old cowboys, 499 00:24:04,133 --> 00:24:06,333 they always want that at their funeral 500 00:24:06,333 --> 00:24:09,766 because it's cowboy, 501 00:24:11,166 --> 00:24:15,033 but yet it's a wonderful prayer really. 502 00:24:15,033 --> 00:24:17,600 (gentle music) 503 00:24:23,100 --> 00:24:26,200 (gentle music) 504 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:28,300 - One day while reading a newspaper, 505 00:24:28,300 --> 00:24:30,300 Charlie's attention was caught by a quote 506 00:24:30,300 --> 00:24:32,866 from President Woodrow Wilson, who stated, 507 00:24:32,866 --> 00:24:36,000 "An individual who desires to distinguish themselves 508 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:38,366 "should possess an uncommon first name." 509 00:24:39,466 --> 00:24:41,666 Spurred by the president's insight, 510 00:24:41,666 --> 00:24:46,033 Charlie adopted his middle name Badger as his new identity 511 00:24:46,033 --> 00:24:47,900 and signature for his poetry. 512 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:52,400 - Well, Charles Badger Clark Jr. 513 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:56,300 Was named for his father. (gentle music) 514 00:24:56,300 --> 00:24:58,800 And there came a time when he felt like 515 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:02,633 he wanted to be able to distinguish himself 516 00:25:02,633 --> 00:25:04,933 as being his own person. 517 00:25:04,933 --> 00:25:09,533 And he was getting some suggestions from the literary crowd 518 00:25:09,533 --> 00:25:13,366 that he needs to be able to find a way to stand out as well. 519 00:25:13,366 --> 00:25:15,300 And so then he took on 520 00:25:15,300 --> 00:25:20,000 his father's mother's family name, Badger, 521 00:25:21,033 --> 00:25:23,833 and took that to be his handle. 522 00:25:24,766 --> 00:25:25,933 This is who I am now. 523 00:25:27,100 --> 00:25:29,333 - I think he was a great self-promoter. 524 00:25:29,333 --> 00:25:30,900 I really do. 525 00:25:30,900 --> 00:25:32,866 He had something inside him that said, 526 00:25:35,533 --> 00:25:36,700 "I can make this work." 527 00:25:38,333 --> 00:25:41,833 I mean, the guy's a poet for crying out loud. 528 00:25:41,833 --> 00:25:43,966 And that separated him, I guarantee you. 529 00:25:45,366 --> 00:25:48,933 It separated him from any poet I've ever seen back then. 530 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:51,200 In a good way. 531 00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:56,466 - I think he always saw himself as an outsider, an observer. 532 00:25:56,466 --> 00:25:59,433 He never saw himself as a cowboy, for example. 533 00:25:59,433 --> 00:26:02,166 He wasn't really handy with a rope, 534 00:26:02,166 --> 00:26:04,733 he wasn't really handy with working horses, 535 00:26:05,700 --> 00:26:07,900 but he was an observer. 536 00:26:07,900 --> 00:26:10,933 And so he was there to observe 537 00:26:10,933 --> 00:26:15,033 this exotic place that he hadn't seen before. 538 00:26:16,366 --> 00:26:21,066 And so I don't think he intended on making that his life. 539 00:26:21,933 --> 00:26:23,700 - He didn't wanna come back. 540 00:26:23,700 --> 00:26:26,633 He was already making money, selling poetry. 541 00:26:26,633 --> 00:26:29,500 He could sell it from Arizona as well as anywhere else. 542 00:26:29,500 --> 00:26:30,933 The reason he came back to South Dakota 543 00:26:30,933 --> 00:26:32,733 was his father's health was failing. 544 00:26:33,900 --> 00:26:36,200 - He was devoted to his father. 545 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:39,000 And so he was coming back 546 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:42,466 to help him through this difficult time. 547 00:26:42,466 --> 00:26:45,600 - In 1910, Badger Clark moved in with his family 548 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:48,200 in Hot Springs, South Dakota. 549 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:50,400 He'd spend the next decade devoting his life 550 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:53,233 to his ailing father and his poetry. 551 00:26:53,233 --> 00:26:54,166 (gentle music) 552 00:26:54,166 --> 00:26:56,100 - He's back in his home turf, 553 00:26:56,100 --> 00:26:58,533 he's back among his people 554 00:26:58,533 --> 00:27:00,766 and he is still an outsider. 555 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:03,300 He has been away for a while 556 00:27:03,300 --> 00:27:06,533 and things have changed and he has changed. 557 00:27:06,533 --> 00:27:09,333 But he is back with his father and his stepmother 558 00:27:09,333 --> 00:27:10,633 and he adores them both. 559 00:27:11,666 --> 00:27:14,100 And he continues to write, 560 00:27:14,100 --> 00:27:18,766 and his stepmother is encouraging him to publish. 561 00:27:18,766 --> 00:27:23,766 And in fact, she gives him a loan to publish his first book, 562 00:27:24,633 --> 00:27:27,733 "Sun and Saddle Leather," 1915. 563 00:27:27,733 --> 00:27:31,200 - "Sun and Saddle Leather" was so successful 564 00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:33,500 that he paid back his stepmother within a year 565 00:27:33,500 --> 00:27:34,766 on the royalties alone. 566 00:27:36,233 --> 00:27:39,766 - I think Badger had no idea of the success of his book. 567 00:27:39,766 --> 00:27:43,533 I think he was publishing it as an obligation 568 00:27:43,533 --> 00:27:44,900 that he should, 569 00:27:44,900 --> 00:27:47,700 but I don't think he expected the success 570 00:27:47,700 --> 00:27:49,066 that he achieved with it. 571 00:27:49,066 --> 00:27:51,733 (gentle music) 572 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:56,066 - I was going to Hermosa School, 573 00:27:56,066 --> 00:27:59,233 which like all other schools in the country, 574 00:27:59,233 --> 00:28:02,000 they threw a little poetry at you. 575 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:04,200 And it was people like Tennyson, 576 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:06,666 and excellent, wonderful poets 577 00:28:06,666 --> 00:28:10,133 who had nothing to do with the life I was living. 578 00:28:10,133 --> 00:28:12,133 I couldn't wait to get home, 579 00:28:12,133 --> 00:28:14,800 get on my horse and go out and ride. 580 00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:18,166 And here was a man who understood about riding horses 581 00:28:18,166 --> 00:28:20,800 and who wrote about the plains, 582 00:28:22,700 --> 00:28:24,600 beautiful, beautiful lines 583 00:28:25,900 --> 00:28:28,366 that just seemed to stick in your mind. 584 00:28:31,633 --> 00:28:33,733 "I dream no dreams of a nurse-maid state 585 00:28:33,733 --> 00:28:36,400 "That will spoon me out my food." 586 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:38,566 And that was the cowboy, 587 00:28:38,566 --> 00:28:42,566 the rancher philosophy as far as I was learning it. 588 00:28:44,933 --> 00:28:47,066 "Life flutters high when you're lookin' to die; 589 00:28:47,066 --> 00:28:51,400 "And that is the fun of the hawse work." (chuckling) 590 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:54,233 "Yet when I sigh and the world is a lie 591 00:28:54,233 --> 00:28:56,400 "Give me a day on the hawse work." 592 00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:01,333 I was so glad to get home from school, 593 00:29:01,333 --> 00:29:03,400 get on my horse, (chuckling) 594 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:07,566 get away from school and civilization and dresses. 595 00:29:07,566 --> 00:29:08,800 - It was a different time. 596 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:10,500 It's when just the general public, 597 00:29:10,500 --> 00:29:15,500 much more than they do today, read poetry, read fiction. 598 00:29:16,366 --> 00:29:18,133 So if you did those forms well, 599 00:29:18,133 --> 00:29:20,933 you could acquire a national reputation, 600 00:29:20,933 --> 00:29:22,633 and he certainly did. 601 00:29:22,633 --> 00:29:23,566 (gentle music) 602 00:29:23,566 --> 00:29:25,100 - With his growing popularity, 603 00:29:25,100 --> 00:29:28,333 he was often asked to recite his poetry at public events. 604 00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:32,900 - And this was a horrifying idea. 605 00:29:32,900 --> 00:29:36,166 Here is a fellow that enjoys his solitude 606 00:29:36,166 --> 00:29:41,166 and his innermost thoughts he keeps only on paper, 607 00:29:42,300 --> 00:29:46,266 but to go out before an audience and perform 608 00:29:46,266 --> 00:29:49,533 is something that he never imagined. 609 00:29:49,533 --> 00:29:53,733 And it was a difficult wheel to get turning. 610 00:29:53,733 --> 00:29:55,000 (gentle music) 611 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:58,333 - He decided to grow a beard, 612 00:29:58,333 --> 00:30:01,166 and he chose, for some reason, 613 00:30:01,166 --> 00:30:02,733 the perfect look for a poet 614 00:30:02,733 --> 00:30:05,566 would be a Van Dyke, trimmed beard, 615 00:30:05,566 --> 00:30:07,433 carefully trimmed and so on. 616 00:30:07,433 --> 00:30:09,000 He must have spent a lot of time on it. 617 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:11,166 So you could tell how he thought about it. 618 00:30:12,533 --> 00:30:16,533 He began to caucus Stetson always to the side. 619 00:30:16,533 --> 00:30:18,366 And that was, 620 00:30:18,366 --> 00:30:20,366 again, had a trademark 621 00:30:20,366 --> 00:30:23,233 rather than having it sit square on his head. 622 00:30:23,233 --> 00:30:26,300 - It's like when you're an actor, 623 00:30:26,300 --> 00:30:28,266 you become a different person. 624 00:30:28,266 --> 00:30:30,766 And so then you are free to do 625 00:30:30,766 --> 00:30:33,466 whatever it is that you wouldn't normally do. 626 00:30:33,466 --> 00:30:35,566 And Badger does recreate himself. 627 00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:38,300 He creates a uniform. 628 00:30:39,533 --> 00:30:42,033 He's wearing almost a military uniform. 629 00:30:43,266 --> 00:30:47,533 And I think that does give him some freedom 630 00:30:47,533 --> 00:30:50,200 to be a performer, 631 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:52,966 as opposed to being a Badger Clark. 632 00:30:52,966 --> 00:30:55,233 - I think it was part of the hip look, he had. 633 00:30:56,366 --> 00:30:59,933 We're coming out of the Civil War 634 00:30:59,933 --> 00:31:04,466 and then the West and then the settlement, 635 00:31:04,466 --> 00:31:09,233 the Indian Wars, the Gun Slingers Wild Bill. 636 00:31:09,233 --> 00:31:11,633 And then he's still kind of the tail end of this 637 00:31:12,833 --> 00:31:15,333 with the hat and the riding boots. 638 00:31:15,333 --> 00:31:20,100 I think he was at the guy at the perfect time, 639 00:31:20,100 --> 00:31:22,033 I really do. (gentle music) 640 00:31:22,033 --> 00:31:24,333 - He did a lot of campfire talks. 641 00:31:24,333 --> 00:31:25,800 Being in the Black Hills, 642 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:30,000 we had lots and lots of kids camps, 643 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:32,533 girls Scouts, boy Scouts, you name it, 644 00:31:32,533 --> 00:31:34,066 at church camps. 645 00:31:34,066 --> 00:31:37,933 And they would invite him to do an evening campfire talk. 646 00:31:37,933 --> 00:31:40,366 And the word started to spread. 647 00:31:40,366 --> 00:31:45,033 Then he started getting requests for graduations. 648 00:31:45,033 --> 00:31:47,300 He used to call it his hot air circuit. 649 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:53,233 Every spring, he was just on the road all the time. 650 00:31:53,866 --> 00:31:55,166 (gentle music) 651 00:31:55,166 --> 00:31:56,866 - You know, I think if you were a child 652 00:31:56,866 --> 00:31:59,833 who Badger Clark came to your school, 653 00:31:59,833 --> 00:32:01,466 you remembered that experience 654 00:32:01,466 --> 00:32:03,200 because you were really meeting somebody 655 00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:05,000 who was a celebrity. 656 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:07,833 - He used to be a superstar in South Dakota. 657 00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:10,200 Everybody knew Badger Clark. 658 00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:13,000 And when you see these women from Custer 659 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:16,166 that remembered him coming into town to shop, 660 00:32:16,166 --> 00:32:18,866 and their eyes would just light up. 661 00:32:18,866 --> 00:32:20,433 Their whole bodies would light up, 662 00:32:20,433 --> 00:32:22,500 'cause he was such a great person. 663 00:32:23,766 --> 00:32:26,400 - He got paid a pittance, I think, 664 00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:28,200 for some of his appearances. 665 00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:32,100 But people asked him to speak all over the state, 666 00:32:32,100 --> 00:32:33,566 probably all over the country, 667 00:32:33,566 --> 00:32:35,166 at high school graduations and stuff. 668 00:32:35,166 --> 00:32:37,766 And he remarked sometimes that, 669 00:32:37,766 --> 00:32:39,333 "they invite me to go to Aberdeen, 670 00:32:39,333 --> 00:32:41,266 "and they say, 'Well, thank you very much Mr. Clark,' 671 00:32:41,266 --> 00:32:43,133 "when it's done, and that's it." 672 00:32:43,133 --> 00:32:45,300 - Then he started really traveling 673 00:32:45,300 --> 00:32:47,100 when he joined the Chautauqua circuit, 674 00:32:47,100 --> 00:32:49,833 a huge impact on his life. 675 00:32:49,833 --> 00:32:53,033 - He joined the National Red Path Chautauqua, 676 00:32:53,033 --> 00:32:54,533 a traveling tent show 677 00:32:54,533 --> 00:32:58,333 that set out to entertain and inspire rural communities. 678 00:32:58,333 --> 00:33:01,100 For many small towns across the country, 679 00:33:01,100 --> 00:33:02,566 the Red Path Chautauqua 680 00:33:02,566 --> 00:33:04,866 was a window to the wider world 681 00:33:04,866 --> 00:33:06,766 and a chance to connect with a community 682 00:33:06,766 --> 00:33:08,766 that shared a thirst for knowledge 683 00:33:08,766 --> 00:33:10,800 and a love of entertainment. 684 00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:12,700 - He had met some famous people 685 00:33:12,700 --> 00:33:15,166 out on the Chautauqua circuit,, 686 00:33:15,166 --> 00:33:19,266 and he was not impressed, 687 00:33:20,766 --> 00:33:22,033 because he felt 688 00:33:22,033 --> 00:33:24,533 that some of them were just slaves to these, 689 00:33:24,533 --> 00:33:27,233 they were hounded by people all the time. 690 00:33:27,233 --> 00:33:31,700 They were hounded by requests, demands. 691 00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:34,866 And he felt that these people 692 00:33:34,866 --> 00:33:36,633 were not their own person anymore. 693 00:33:37,633 --> 00:33:39,833 And it turned him off. 694 00:33:39,833 --> 00:33:42,966 He stayed with it for a while because of the money. 695 00:33:42,966 --> 00:33:44,833 And then he finally just thought, 696 00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:47,066 "The Black Hills are beckoning, 697 00:33:47,066 --> 00:33:49,033 "I'm just gonna go home." 698 00:33:49,033 --> 00:33:52,466 (gentle music) 699 00:33:52,466 --> 00:33:55,700 - "The shadows lengthen to the east, 700 00:33:55,700 --> 00:33:57,000 (gentle music) 701 00:33:57,000 --> 00:33:59,633 "The latter miles are slowly scored, 702 00:33:59,633 --> 00:34:00,900 (gentle music) 703 00:34:00,900 --> 00:34:04,566 "And ere the long day's work has ceased 704 00:34:04,566 --> 00:34:07,533 "You ask of profits and reward." 705 00:34:07,533 --> 00:34:10,200 (gentle music) 706 00:34:13,266 --> 00:34:15,600 - On June 10th, 1921, 707 00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:19,366 the Reverend Charles Sr. died at the age of 82. 708 00:34:19,366 --> 00:34:22,733 After his stepmother retired to the State Soldier's Home, 709 00:34:22,733 --> 00:34:26,333 Badger sought the solitude of the new Custer State Park, 710 00:34:26,333 --> 00:34:29,833 renting a one room 10 by 12 foot cabin. 711 00:34:29,833 --> 00:34:33,366 He would spend the rest of his years connecting with nature 712 00:34:33,366 --> 00:34:35,800 and writing poetry and essays. 713 00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:38,633 - I think Badger Clark, when he got out to the hills, 714 00:34:38,633 --> 00:34:40,200 saw the uniqueness of Custer State Park 715 00:34:40,200 --> 00:34:42,300 and wanted to make this his home. 716 00:34:42,300 --> 00:34:44,333 And at that time, it was possible, 717 00:34:44,333 --> 00:34:46,433 we were renting out and leasing out cabins 718 00:34:46,433 --> 00:34:47,966 for people to make their summer cabins. 719 00:34:47,966 --> 00:34:50,500 And I think Badger saw that opportunity 720 00:34:50,500 --> 00:34:52,533 and knew this was gonna be his place, 721 00:34:52,533 --> 00:34:55,333 this is where he could connect and do his writing, 722 00:34:55,333 --> 00:34:56,666 and kind of escape, 723 00:34:56,666 --> 00:34:57,900 and knew it was his spot. 724 00:34:59,100 --> 00:35:02,266 - He came back directly back to the Black Hills, 725 00:35:02,266 --> 00:35:04,333 which is where he'd grown up. 726 00:35:04,333 --> 00:35:06,700 (gentle music) 727 00:35:06,700 --> 00:35:10,233 I think that Black Hills are mystic. 728 00:35:10,233 --> 00:35:13,200 (gentle music) 729 00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:16,100 The Rocky Mountains, for example, are majestic. 730 00:35:16,100 --> 00:35:17,600 The Black Hills are mystic. 731 00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:19,400 (gentle music) 732 00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:21,633 They're the oldest mountains in the world. 733 00:35:21,633 --> 00:35:23,466 (gentle music) 734 00:35:23,466 --> 00:35:26,700 They have a sense and the feel, 735 00:35:26,700 --> 00:35:28,800 like they're alive. 736 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:31,733 And I think maybe he derived a lot of his poetry 737 00:35:31,733 --> 00:35:35,700 from that sense that he got from the Black Hills, 738 00:35:35,700 --> 00:35:36,800 that feeling. 739 00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:39,466 (gentle music) 740 00:35:43,666 --> 00:35:47,966 - He just, I think spent a lot of time observing. 741 00:35:47,966 --> 00:35:52,833 So he's living near the base of a mountain in his cabin, 742 00:35:52,833 --> 00:35:55,200 and every day he's gonna see deer. 743 00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:57,966 The deer would come right up on his porch, 744 00:35:57,966 --> 00:35:59,700 and look in the windows, 745 00:35:59,700 --> 00:36:01,566 he would see birds, 746 00:36:02,800 --> 00:36:06,666 the wild flowers he wrote about quite a bit. 747 00:36:06,666 --> 00:36:11,666 So for him, I think the Black Hills represented his muse. 748 00:36:12,266 --> 00:36:14,633 (gentle music) 749 00:36:17,233 --> 00:36:19,633 - Badger publishes a second book, 750 00:36:19,633 --> 00:36:21,466 which is "Grass Grown Trails." 751 00:36:22,900 --> 00:36:26,100 He's continuing to write about his experiences in Arizona, 752 00:36:26,100 --> 00:36:28,500 but he's also adding some material 753 00:36:28,500 --> 00:36:32,933 from living up here in the hills 754 00:36:32,933 --> 00:36:35,233 and up among the wild creatures. 755 00:36:35,233 --> 00:36:38,400 And so he is adding some of that material as well. 756 00:36:38,400 --> 00:36:39,900 - He loved the animals. 757 00:36:39,900 --> 00:36:42,600 He fed the deer pancakes. 758 00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:45,600 He knew the deer by names that he gave them. 759 00:36:45,600 --> 00:36:50,133 So he was immersed fully in into the landscape, 760 00:36:50,133 --> 00:36:53,333 the incredible landscape of the Black Hills. 761 00:36:53,333 --> 00:36:55,866 Yet at the same time, he was a social person. 762 00:36:55,866 --> 00:36:59,733 He would go out and give talks all the time. 763 00:36:59,733 --> 00:37:03,633 Anytime it seemed like a building was being dedicated, 764 00:37:03,633 --> 00:37:05,133 you could count on Badger Clark 765 00:37:05,133 --> 00:37:08,566 being interested in coming and being part of that ceremony. 766 00:37:08,566 --> 00:37:10,200 So he had two worlds, 767 00:37:11,333 --> 00:37:13,500 that hidden away in the Black Hills, 768 00:37:13,500 --> 00:37:15,300 but also going out and meeting its public. 769 00:37:15,300 --> 00:37:18,033 And I think meeting children especially, 770 00:37:19,633 --> 00:37:21,500 he was a big, big figure to them. 771 00:37:21,500 --> 00:37:23,566 (gentle music) 772 00:37:23,566 --> 00:37:25,133 - Pretty impressive figure. 773 00:37:26,133 --> 00:37:27,600 He was a pretty big man. 774 00:37:29,266 --> 00:37:31,200 I think he stood over six feet, 775 00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:37,233 and he had that almost military uniform (chuckling) he wore, 776 00:37:38,700 --> 00:37:42,266 he was pretty impressive to look at, intimidating. 777 00:37:43,966 --> 00:37:47,233 And, (gentle music) 778 00:37:47,233 --> 00:37:50,166 he asked me how old I was, 779 00:37:51,666 --> 00:37:52,900 and I told him I was 15. 780 00:37:56,166 --> 00:37:57,800 He said, "Did you go to high school?" 781 00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:01,400 I said, "No, I went through the eighth grade 782 00:38:02,233 --> 00:38:03,333 "and that was it." 783 00:38:05,033 --> 00:38:06,933 He said, "Well, we're gonna fix that." 784 00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:10,500 I said, "How?" 785 00:38:10,500 --> 00:38:13,133 He said, I'm gonna have you read some books. 786 00:38:14,566 --> 00:38:18,866 He started me off on three of Shakespeare's plays, 787 00:38:20,100 --> 00:38:24,000 and then I had to give him a written report. 788 00:38:24,900 --> 00:38:26,433 I was terrified of the man. 789 00:38:26,433 --> 00:38:28,833 (gentle music) 790 00:38:28,833 --> 00:38:31,800 He would pick out some chapter in that book 791 00:38:33,233 --> 00:38:35,400 and ask me what I thought it meant. 792 00:38:36,533 --> 00:38:38,566 Well, I didn't know what the hell it meant, 793 00:38:38,566 --> 00:38:41,566 but I paid more attention to what I read after that, 794 00:38:43,033 --> 00:38:44,433 because he would do that. 795 00:38:44,433 --> 00:38:46,333 He knew all of those books. 796 00:38:47,633 --> 00:38:49,200 He caused me to think. 797 00:38:51,333 --> 00:38:52,566 You don't know how to think, 798 00:38:52,566 --> 00:38:54,100 'till you learn how to think. 799 00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:59,466 And it helped me all the rest of my life. 800 00:38:59,466 --> 00:39:01,566 I didn't realize it for a long time. 801 00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:05,833 - I used to go over there when I was a little kid 802 00:39:05,833 --> 00:39:07,833 and slay on his hill. 803 00:39:07,833 --> 00:39:09,933 He had a good hill for sledding. 804 00:39:09,933 --> 00:39:13,233 And I'd be out there slaying sledding, 805 00:39:13,233 --> 00:39:15,666 and he'd come out on the porch and he'd say, 806 00:39:15,666 --> 00:39:17,266 "Kenny, come on in here, 807 00:39:17,266 --> 00:39:19,266 "I got some hot chocolate." 808 00:39:19,266 --> 00:39:22,533 They'd stand over there and he'd read his latest poem. 809 00:39:22,533 --> 00:39:25,300 And then whether good or bad, I didn't know. 810 00:39:25,300 --> 00:39:27,166 But I always thought if that was the best poem in the world, 811 00:39:27,166 --> 00:39:29,100 'cause I want another hot chocolate. 812 00:39:29,100 --> 00:39:31,033 (mid tempo music) 813 00:39:31,033 --> 00:39:33,366 - During the summer of 1927, 814 00:39:33,366 --> 00:39:34,933 President Calvin Coolidge, 815 00:39:34,933 --> 00:39:38,766 spent a three month working vacation in Custer State Park. 816 00:39:38,766 --> 00:39:39,700 (mid tempo music) 817 00:39:39,700 --> 00:39:40,800 - The Custer State Game Lodge 818 00:39:40,800 --> 00:39:43,366 was the summer White House. 819 00:39:43,366 --> 00:39:45,533 They put a library in there 820 00:39:45,533 --> 00:39:48,100 and they put "Sun and Saddle Leather" in there. 821 00:39:48,100 --> 00:39:52,433 And Mrs. Coolidge saw that she kinda liked it. 822 00:39:52,433 --> 00:39:56,800 This guy's a hip, hip guy, Badger Clark. 823 00:39:56,800 --> 00:39:58,266 They went down to Hot Springs 824 00:39:58,266 --> 00:40:01,366 to dedicate the veteran's home. 825 00:40:01,366 --> 00:40:05,100 The ladies of the town had a tee for the president, 826 00:40:05,100 --> 00:40:06,233 and the president asked 'em, 827 00:40:06,233 --> 00:40:07,566 "Where's the cowboy poet? 828 00:40:07,566 --> 00:40:08,600 "Where's Badger?" 829 00:40:09,733 --> 00:40:12,100 - That's a very embarrassing story. 830 00:40:12,100 --> 00:40:14,733 When Calvin Coolidge knew who Badger Clark was, 831 00:40:14,733 --> 00:40:17,100 and yet he had not been invited to the ceremonies 832 00:40:17,100 --> 00:40:18,366 down in Hot Springs. 833 00:40:19,733 --> 00:40:24,000 And I don't know if Badger Clark realized this at the time, 834 00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:27,300 but he was summoned immediately. 835 00:40:27,300 --> 00:40:30,833 Somebody drove up from Hot Springs to pick him up and said, 836 00:40:30,833 --> 00:40:33,233 "The president wants to meet you." 837 00:40:33,233 --> 00:40:36,366 And he quick pulled himself together and went down. 838 00:40:36,366 --> 00:40:39,700 (gentle music) 839 00:40:39,700 --> 00:40:42,900 - Well Badger upon the death of his stepmother, 840 00:40:42,900 --> 00:40:45,100 he received an inheritance 841 00:40:45,100 --> 00:40:48,533 that allowed him to build a place of his own, 842 00:40:48,533 --> 00:40:51,600 his dream house, you might say. 843 00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:55,400 And he builds a cabin up in the Black Hills, 844 00:40:55,400 --> 00:40:57,333 again, he calls it his Badger Hole. 845 00:40:58,533 --> 00:41:01,900 And it took years to complete it. 846 00:41:01,900 --> 00:41:04,366 (gentle music) 847 00:41:04,366 --> 00:41:07,300 - My dad was a plumber, a carpenter, 848 00:41:07,300 --> 00:41:10,133 and he was a really good stone mason. 849 00:41:10,133 --> 00:41:13,733 So he did the work on Badger Clark's fireplace 850 00:41:13,733 --> 00:41:16,066 in the front of his porch there. 851 00:41:16,066 --> 00:41:21,066 And Badger Clark wanted to have a roof on his porch, 852 00:41:21,933 --> 00:41:23,700 but there was a big tree there. 853 00:41:23,700 --> 00:41:25,866 So Dad said, you have to cut that tree down. 854 00:41:25,866 --> 00:41:28,433 Well, Badger didn't wanna cut that tree down. 855 00:41:28,433 --> 00:41:29,633 So dad went ahead and built the porch 856 00:41:29,633 --> 00:41:33,233 and he cut a big hole in the porch roof 857 00:41:33,233 --> 00:41:35,000 so that pine tree can grow up through it. 858 00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:37,133 (gentle music) 859 00:41:37,133 --> 00:41:39,566 - Those rocks are handpicked that make the foundation. 860 00:41:39,566 --> 00:41:40,800 The wood is handpicked, 861 00:41:40,800 --> 00:41:43,333 the colors, he picked, the layout of the cabin. 862 00:41:43,333 --> 00:41:46,666 He had two rooms in there by the fire where it's warm. 863 00:41:46,666 --> 00:41:47,900 He had the kitchen set up, 864 00:41:47,900 --> 00:41:51,700 I think viewing the old growth forest there. 865 00:41:51,700 --> 00:41:54,466 And then just a big living room to handle all his books, 866 00:41:54,466 --> 00:41:56,133 to do his writing. 867 00:41:56,133 --> 00:41:58,066 - He wanted to live a simple life, 868 00:41:59,100 --> 00:42:01,233 getting down to the basics. 869 00:42:01,233 --> 00:42:04,600 He wasn't so far away from the pioneer years, 870 00:42:04,600 --> 00:42:06,266 and he just kind of figured 871 00:42:06,266 --> 00:42:09,666 he wasn't gonna become a rich man as a poet, 872 00:42:09,666 --> 00:42:12,600 or even as a very successful speaker 873 00:42:12,600 --> 00:42:14,900 on the Chautauqua circuit. 874 00:42:16,166 --> 00:42:19,200 He thought, what would I do with all this money? 875 00:42:19,200 --> 00:42:21,300 So he lived a very simple life. 876 00:42:21,300 --> 00:42:22,800 He was happy with it. 877 00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:25,666 - And he does not have electricity, 878 00:42:25,666 --> 00:42:27,300 does not have running water, 879 00:42:27,300 --> 00:42:29,466 and these are by choice. 880 00:42:29,466 --> 00:42:31,900 He is content to live in the old way 881 00:42:31,900 --> 00:42:33,300 (water dripping) 882 00:42:33,300 --> 00:42:36,066 to carry water from the creek. 883 00:42:37,266 --> 00:42:39,600 There's a privy out in the backyard 884 00:42:40,700 --> 00:42:43,800 and that serves his needs. 885 00:42:43,800 --> 00:42:45,533 - He didn't have a phone. 886 00:42:45,533 --> 00:42:49,100 Somebody could try and get all the way out to his cabin, 887 00:42:49,100 --> 00:42:50,800 but the roads were not good. 888 00:42:50,800 --> 00:42:55,766 And I guess you could get there on a horse easily, 889 00:42:56,966 --> 00:42:59,166 but he wouldn't have had very much interruption 890 00:42:59,166 --> 00:43:00,400 from human beings, 891 00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:04,600 which are the most demanding distractions. 892 00:43:04,600 --> 00:43:06,900 He didn't have a wife, he didn't have children, 893 00:43:06,900 --> 00:43:08,400 he didn't have those distractions. 894 00:43:08,400 --> 00:43:10,800 But the distractions he had were, 895 00:43:10,800 --> 00:43:12,900 if he got stuck writing, 896 00:43:12,900 --> 00:43:15,533 put his boots on and go for a walk, 897 00:43:16,966 --> 00:43:21,400 and maybe something would loosen up his thoughts, 898 00:43:21,400 --> 00:43:23,500 something he observed. 899 00:43:23,500 --> 00:43:26,466 So I think it was a very healthy environment for him 900 00:43:26,466 --> 00:43:27,833 as far as being a writer. 901 00:43:27,833 --> 00:43:30,500 (gentle music) 902 00:43:32,400 --> 00:43:34,033 - Well, all through Badger's life, 903 00:43:34,033 --> 00:43:36,300 it seems that people observed him as, 904 00:43:37,466 --> 00:43:39,600 shall we say, an odd duck, an outsider? 905 00:43:39,600 --> 00:43:42,200 Someone who was not like they are. 906 00:43:42,200 --> 00:43:44,100 (gentle music) 907 00:43:44,100 --> 00:43:46,166 That was him all through his life. 908 00:43:46,166 --> 00:43:48,933 (gentle music) 909 00:43:48,933 --> 00:43:51,200 - He would learn to be frugal, 910 00:43:51,200 --> 00:43:54,933 but he didn't think of it as squalor, it was his choice. 911 00:43:54,933 --> 00:43:58,600 And he would trade any amount of money 912 00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:01,266 to be able to live the life that he had, 913 00:44:01,266 --> 00:44:02,600 especially with a new house. 914 00:44:02,600 --> 00:44:05,300 It was just wonderful. 915 00:44:05,300 --> 00:44:08,400 (gentle pipe music) 916 00:44:09,600 --> 00:44:12,100 - "Another year grows calmly old, 917 00:44:13,266 --> 00:44:15,033 "And frost is on the morning grass. 918 00:44:16,766 --> 00:44:20,233 "The quaking, aspens shed, its gold, 919 00:44:21,366 --> 00:44:24,166 "The mountain lake lies as still as glass." 920 00:44:24,166 --> 00:44:26,833 (gentle music) 921 00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:32,000 In 1937 South Dakota Governor Leslie Jensen 922 00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:35,333 named Badger at the state's first poet laureate. 923 00:44:35,333 --> 00:44:38,633 It was one of the few honors bestowed on Badger, 924 00:44:38,633 --> 00:44:41,433 as he didn't seek out awards and fame. 925 00:44:41,433 --> 00:44:43,166 He had no agent or publisher. 926 00:44:44,100 --> 00:44:46,200 - Badger took it in stride, 927 00:44:46,200 --> 00:44:48,600 humbly as he always would do. 928 00:44:48,600 --> 00:44:53,166 And he also liked to refer to himself as the poet laureate. 929 00:44:53,166 --> 00:44:57,133 - I never heard Charlie ever tell anybody in front of me 930 00:44:57,133 --> 00:45:00,433 or talk about being South Dakota's first poet laureate. 931 00:45:01,600 --> 00:45:04,000 He really had mixed feelings about it. 932 00:45:04,000 --> 00:45:08,333 For one thing, the governor was a good friend of his, 933 00:45:08,333 --> 00:45:10,266 they were neighbors in Hot Springs. 934 00:45:11,700 --> 00:45:15,366 He just didn't really see a need, I guess. (chuckling) 935 00:45:15,366 --> 00:45:17,866 And people did make a big deal about it. 936 00:45:17,866 --> 00:45:19,400 (gentle music) 937 00:45:19,400 --> 00:45:23,700 - We were aware that Badger Clark was the Laureate. 938 00:45:23,700 --> 00:45:24,900 And it was kind of a... 939 00:45:24,900 --> 00:45:25,833 It wasn't a joke, 940 00:45:25,833 --> 00:45:30,833 because it was a esteemed title, 941 00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:33,200 but he didn't make very much money 942 00:45:33,200 --> 00:45:34,466 off of being South Dakota's poet. 943 00:45:34,466 --> 00:45:35,966 And we have a book 944 00:45:35,966 --> 00:45:39,766 that I don't know was ever printed at length, 945 00:45:39,766 --> 00:45:43,666 but it's a book of letters that he wrote. 946 00:45:43,666 --> 00:45:45,133 And almost every letter in there, 947 00:45:45,133 --> 00:45:48,100 he complains about how poor and destitute he is. 948 00:45:48,100 --> 00:45:49,866 And he's asking people, 949 00:45:49,866 --> 00:45:51,933 "Do you have a couple extra bucks?" 950 00:45:52,933 --> 00:45:54,800 - He never had a car. 951 00:45:54,800 --> 00:45:57,433 And I think there's kind of a legend of Badger Clark. 952 00:45:58,566 --> 00:45:59,700 He was walking everywhere. 953 00:45:59,700 --> 00:46:00,966 I hear people say, 954 00:46:00,966 --> 00:46:02,933 Well, he was out in the Custer Park, 955 00:46:02,933 --> 00:46:05,700 if he had to get some food items or something, 956 00:46:05,700 --> 00:46:07,533 he walked into Custer. 957 00:46:07,533 --> 00:46:09,666 But he was somebody people would always pick up 958 00:46:09,666 --> 00:46:11,233 when he was out on the road, 959 00:46:11,233 --> 00:46:12,200 and they'd give him a ride. 960 00:46:12,200 --> 00:46:16,466 - And he dressed so differently, 961 00:46:16,466 --> 00:46:17,600 dressed like a cowboy, 962 00:46:17,600 --> 00:46:20,466 but a very well dressed cowboy. 963 00:46:20,466 --> 00:46:22,033 He was always recognizable. 964 00:46:22,033 --> 00:46:25,566 And any anybody in the county or Custer State Park knew him. 965 00:46:25,566 --> 00:46:27,233 He would only get a few steps along, 966 00:46:27,233 --> 00:46:29,033 somebody come and pick him up. 967 00:46:29,033 --> 00:46:32,033 Same thing, he'd get his supplies in Custer, 968 00:46:32,033 --> 00:46:33,233 head on back, 969 00:46:33,233 --> 00:46:35,100 and there'd be somebody who'd recognize him, 970 00:46:35,100 --> 00:46:37,666 or he just looked like such a friendly fella. 971 00:46:37,666 --> 00:46:39,833 And he would entertain them in the car 972 00:46:39,833 --> 00:46:41,566 even if he didn't know them. 973 00:46:41,566 --> 00:46:46,566 ♪ Desert blue and silver in the still moonshine ♪ 974 00:46:48,866 --> 00:46:50,800 - One afternoon while waiting for a train, 975 00:46:50,800 --> 00:46:52,500 he walked into a movie theater, 976 00:46:52,500 --> 00:46:55,566 and was surprised to see Bing Crosby sing his poem 977 00:46:55,566 --> 00:46:57,300 "A Roundup Lullaby," 978 00:46:57,300 --> 00:46:59,966 from the western musical, "Rhythm on The Range." 979 00:46:59,966 --> 00:47:02,866 ♪ Far sky line, ♪ 980 00:47:02,866 --> 00:47:06,766 ♪ Time for millin' cattle to be still ♪ 981 00:47:06,766 --> 00:47:07,700 - Now, this was back in the day 982 00:47:07,700 --> 00:47:09,733 when people bought sheet music 983 00:47:09,733 --> 00:47:12,066 after they saw the movie, 984 00:47:12,066 --> 00:47:15,500 but he didn't get any proceeds from that. 985 00:47:15,500 --> 00:47:18,333 He probably could have made a significant amount of money 986 00:47:18,333 --> 00:47:21,400 if he had bothered to copyright 987 00:47:21,400 --> 00:47:23,300 the poems and music that he wrote, 988 00:47:23,300 --> 00:47:25,700 but he was a little sloppy about that. 989 00:47:25,700 --> 00:47:30,266 So some of his things got claimed by others. 990 00:47:30,266 --> 00:47:32,233 And some of them, even today, 991 00:47:33,433 --> 00:47:36,566 you'll say this is an old cowboy folk song, 992 00:47:36,566 --> 00:47:41,133 but it's really something that Badger Clark composed. 993 00:47:41,133 --> 00:47:45,600 So he resented it when people plagiarized his work, 994 00:47:45,600 --> 00:47:48,200 but on the other hand, 995 00:47:49,666 --> 00:47:52,833 he didn't get obsessed by it or embittered by it. 996 00:47:52,833 --> 00:47:54,800 He just kept going. 997 00:47:54,800 --> 00:47:57,066 - Badger continued to write. 998 00:47:57,066 --> 00:47:58,833 He published a book of short stories 999 00:47:58,833 --> 00:48:00,933 about his time in Arizona, 1000 00:48:00,933 --> 00:48:02,733 another book of poetry 1001 00:48:02,733 --> 00:48:04,133 and the history book 1002 00:48:04,133 --> 00:48:05,866 commissioned by the Kiwanis Club of Hot Springs, 1003 00:48:05,866 --> 00:48:07,200 (gentle music) 1004 00:48:07,200 --> 00:48:09,733 along with a growing pile of correspondence 1005 00:48:09,733 --> 00:48:12,200 from all over the world. (gentle music) 1006 00:48:12,200 --> 00:48:16,666 - He was completely unique as a human being. 1007 00:48:16,666 --> 00:48:18,666 He could live in an environment 1008 00:48:18,666 --> 00:48:22,666 with nothing to speak of around him, 1009 00:48:24,066 --> 00:48:26,933 and draw people to him because of his character. 1010 00:48:26,933 --> 00:48:28,666 (gentle music) 1011 00:48:28,666 --> 00:48:33,666 And people really strove to be with the man. 1012 00:48:34,566 --> 00:48:37,500 He was dynamic. (gentle music) 1013 00:48:37,500 --> 00:48:42,500 He must have had a personality that was almost magnetic. 1014 00:48:43,100 --> 00:48:45,366 (gentle music) 1015 00:48:46,666 --> 00:48:49,266 - "When I shall top the last divide 1016 00:48:49,266 --> 00:48:52,533 "And journey down the other side, 1017 00:48:53,700 --> 00:48:55,666 "What vested here on earth will be 1018 00:48:57,000 --> 00:49:00,966 "To prove that there was once a me." 1019 00:49:00,966 --> 00:49:03,633 (gentle music) 1020 00:49:09,300 --> 00:49:11,300 - In the morning, Badger Clark used to come out 1021 00:49:11,300 --> 00:49:13,200 and he used to lean over the porch, 1022 00:49:13,200 --> 00:49:14,433 railing on his porch, 1023 00:49:14,433 --> 00:49:16,300 and just cough and cough and cough. 1024 00:49:16,300 --> 00:49:18,900 You could hear that from mile away, 1025 00:49:20,200 --> 00:49:23,400 and apparently due to his respiratory disease, 1026 00:49:24,900 --> 00:49:27,700 but that's wasn't a good indication that he was healthy, 1027 00:49:28,766 --> 00:49:30,633 but he never complained to us about it, 1028 00:49:32,933 --> 00:49:35,400 never asked us for an aspirin. (chuckling) 1029 00:49:35,400 --> 00:49:38,066 (gentle music) 1030 00:49:39,933 --> 00:49:41,666 - He knew he was dying, 1031 00:49:41,666 --> 00:49:44,066 even though the doctor didn't, he did. 1032 00:49:44,066 --> 00:49:47,400 (gentle music) 1033 00:49:47,400 --> 00:49:51,933 If he was in a lot of pain and had problems, 1034 00:49:51,933 --> 00:49:53,900 he wasn't letting anybody know. 1035 00:49:53,900 --> 00:49:55,833 (gentle music) 1036 00:49:55,833 --> 00:49:58,733 - In early September of 1957, 1037 00:49:58,733 --> 00:50:02,233 Badger was diagnosed with lung and throat cancer. 1038 00:50:02,233 --> 00:50:06,800 A month later, he passed away peacefully at the age of 74. 1039 00:50:06,800 --> 00:50:09,400 (somber music) 1040 00:50:09,400 --> 00:50:10,633 - When Badger was gone, 1041 00:50:11,833 --> 00:50:14,733 his funeral was very well attended. 1042 00:50:15,900 --> 00:50:19,500 Again, being for such a loner, such a hermit, 1043 00:50:19,500 --> 00:50:22,333 for so many to come to honor him 1044 00:50:22,333 --> 00:50:24,666 was quite a contrast. 1045 00:50:24,666 --> 00:50:26,400 (somber music) 1046 00:50:26,400 --> 00:50:28,033 - I was there at the funeral. 1047 00:50:28,033 --> 00:50:33,033 I was only 10, and my memories are, 1048 00:50:33,766 --> 00:50:35,033 I was mostly in awe. 1049 00:50:36,000 --> 00:50:38,500 There were a lot of people there. 1050 00:50:38,500 --> 00:50:42,866 They were famous people, they were important people. 1051 00:50:42,866 --> 00:50:46,633 A lot of South Dakota legislators. 1052 00:50:46,633 --> 00:50:48,433 The governor was there. 1053 00:50:48,433 --> 00:50:52,000 A real show of support and respect 1054 00:50:52,000 --> 00:50:54,866 for the first poet Laureate of South Dakota. 1055 00:50:56,333 --> 00:50:58,933 And it wasn't just respect, it was love, 1056 00:51:00,100 --> 00:51:01,266 it was palpable. 1057 00:51:02,100 --> 00:51:04,233 And I was impressed. 1058 00:51:04,233 --> 00:51:06,833 (somber music) 1059 00:51:08,200 --> 00:51:10,600 - "I dread the break when I shall die 1060 00:51:11,800 --> 00:51:14,566 "Not from my human friends, for they 1061 00:51:14,566 --> 00:51:17,800 "Are shifting shadows such as I 1062 00:51:19,600 --> 00:51:21,733 "And soon must follow me away 1063 00:51:23,433 --> 00:51:27,066 "But from my earth that still must swing 1064 00:51:27,066 --> 00:51:31,866 "From day to dusk, from dark to dawn, 1065 00:51:33,033 --> 00:51:37,666 "Slow shimmering on from spring to spring 1066 00:51:37,666 --> 00:51:40,366 "Through all the years when I am gone." 1067 00:51:40,366 --> 00:51:42,933 (somber music) 1068 00:51:45,133 --> 00:51:47,433 In the decades since his death, 1069 00:51:47,433 --> 00:51:50,633 Badger Clark, the reclusive poet of nature, 1070 00:51:50,633 --> 00:51:53,866 has become a fixture in South Dakota history. 1071 00:51:53,866 --> 00:51:56,600 His cabin preserved since his time, 1072 00:51:56,600 --> 00:51:58,566 houses his boots on the floor 1073 00:51:58,566 --> 00:52:00,866 and his typewriter on the desk. 1074 00:52:00,866 --> 00:52:03,933 Each year, thousands of visitors explore the cabin 1075 00:52:03,933 --> 00:52:06,900 and traverse the same wilderness trails he cherished. 1076 00:52:08,333 --> 00:52:11,000 Notably Bob Dylan and other musicians 1077 00:52:11,000 --> 00:52:15,566 recorded his poems and turned them into songs. 1078 00:52:15,566 --> 00:52:18,600 The South Dakota State Historical Society Foundation, 1079 00:52:18,600 --> 00:52:21,866 ensures his poetry books stay in circulation, 1080 00:52:21,866 --> 00:52:23,833 while annual community gatherings 1081 00:52:23,833 --> 00:52:26,100 unite admirers and companions 1082 00:52:26,100 --> 00:52:28,200 in celebration of the secluded poet. 1083 00:52:29,766 --> 00:52:33,266 ♪ But then I used to love ♪ 1084 00:52:35,133 --> 00:52:36,866 (gentle music) 1085 00:52:36,866 --> 00:52:39,433 - I think Badger Clark's legacy is 1086 00:52:41,500 --> 00:52:45,166 living a true life and living a simple life, 1087 00:52:45,166 --> 00:52:47,133 but being true to your heart, 1088 00:52:48,466 --> 00:52:52,266 and not giving up, creating more, 1089 00:52:54,166 --> 00:52:55,400 even though there's no profit in it. 1090 00:52:55,400 --> 00:52:58,033 (gentle music) 1091 00:53:00,333 --> 00:53:02,066 - He lived a very simple life, 1092 00:53:02,066 --> 00:53:04,166 a life he wanted to live out in the woods, 1093 00:53:04,166 --> 00:53:07,533 in a cabin he built doing something he loves. 1094 00:53:07,533 --> 00:53:08,500 And he was okay with that. 1095 00:53:08,500 --> 00:53:10,033 And that's okay. 1096 00:53:10,033 --> 00:53:12,400 And I think sometimes people forget it's okay to do that. 1097 00:53:12,400 --> 00:53:14,666 You don't have to live up to the standards of society 1098 00:53:14,666 --> 00:53:16,033 because who knows, 1099 00:53:16,033 --> 00:53:18,500 you may be making big footprints that will make history 1100 00:53:18,500 --> 00:53:20,600 and people will talk about you after that. 1101 00:53:24,033 --> 00:53:25,266 - He was a cowboy poet 1102 00:53:25,266 --> 00:53:28,233 before there was such a thing as cowboy poets. 1103 00:53:28,233 --> 00:53:30,433 I mean, he helped invent the genre. 1104 00:53:32,533 --> 00:53:34,400 - I really feel like Badger Clark 1105 00:53:34,400 --> 00:53:37,200 is the godfather of cowboy poetry, 1106 00:53:37,200 --> 00:53:40,300 because he not only lived the life and wrote it 1107 00:53:40,300 --> 00:53:42,700 in such excellent form, 1108 00:53:42,700 --> 00:53:46,000 but he is modeled after, 1109 00:53:47,100 --> 00:53:49,166 it's timeless. 1110 00:53:50,000 --> 00:53:53,133 (mid tempo music) 1111 00:53:53,133 --> 00:53:54,400 - And I think he defines the success 1112 00:53:54,400 --> 00:53:55,666 of what people think 1113 00:53:55,666 --> 00:53:57,366 a famous historical character should be. 1114 00:53:57,366 --> 00:54:00,933 He didn't do shootouts like Wild Bill Haga did. 1115 00:54:00,933 --> 00:54:03,300 He didn't blaze the trail across the prairie. 1116 00:54:03,300 --> 00:54:06,000 He was a poetry writer in the middle of a state park. 1117 00:54:06,000 --> 00:54:09,100 But yet here he is and we're still talking about him. 1118 00:54:09,100 --> 00:54:11,200 - Well, he was an exceptional human being. 1119 00:54:12,366 --> 00:54:14,733 I've known a few of those in my life, 1120 00:54:14,733 --> 00:54:16,066 and they just stand out 1121 00:54:17,800 --> 00:54:21,333 and they influence other people's lives to a great degree. 1122 00:54:22,466 --> 00:54:24,566 And they leave the world a better place. 1123 00:54:24,566 --> 00:54:27,466 (mid tempo music)