November 25, 1878 [Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania] – December 5, 1950 [Los Angeles, California]
[TEMP: Bruce Kiskaddon has been called the quintessential cowboy poet of the 20th century and is widely considered to be the cowboy poet laureate of America. His poems were widely published in calendars and books throughout his lifetime. In the mid-1980s, the birth of the cowboy poetry renaissance renewed interest in his work. Harvey Kiskaddon was born in 1878 in Pennsylvania. He started his cowboy life in 1898 working in the Picket Wire district of Colorado. Kiskaddon worked for ten years as a cowboy. He frequently amused his fellow cowboys by writing parodies of songs and putting into rhyme the happenings around the ranch and on the trail. At the outbreak of World War I, Kiskaddon joined the Army and served honorably in France with the cavalry. He remained overseas, spending time in the ranches of Australia as a jackaroo. When he returned to the United States, he found employment with Tap Duncan, a well-known and successful cattle rancher. In 1926, Kiskaddon left the cowboy life behind for a career in films. He traveled to Hollywood to audition for a job as an extra in the movie Ben-Hur. He stayed in Hollywood the rest of his life, working as an extra and taking bit parts in Westerns. He supported himself mainly working as a bellhop in Hollywood hotels. He included several of his poems relating to hotel life in his book Just As Is published in 1928.].
