Wally McRae

{{Short description|American cowboy poet (1936–2025)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Infobox writer | name = Wally McRae | embed = | honorific_prefix = | honorific_suffix = | image = Wally McRae.jpg | image_size = | image_upright = | alt = Photograph of Wally McRae taken in 1990 | caption = McRae in 1990 | birth_name = Wallace Donald McRae | birth_date = {{Birth date|1936|02|26}} | birth_place = Rosebud, Montana, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2025|06|22|1936|02|26}} | death_place = | resting_place = | occupation = Cowboy, cowboy poet | language = | residence = | nationality = | education = | alma_mater = Montana State University (BS) | genre = Poetry, stories | movement = | notableworks = "Reincarnation"<br/> "Things of Intrinsic Worth" | spouse = Ruth Hayes | partner =  | children = | relatives = | awards = National Heritage Fellowship | years_active = 1985–2025 | website =  }}

'''Wallace Donald McRae''' (February 26, 1936 – June 22, 2025) was an American rancher, cowboy, cowboy poet and philosopher. He ran the {{convert|30000|acre|km2|adj=on}} Rocker Six Cattle Co. ranch on Rosebud Creek, south of Rosebud, Montana.

==Background== McRae was born on February 26, 1936.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n80012363.html |title=McRae, Wallace |author= |date=May 1, 2015 |website=id.loc.gov |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=4 January 2018}}</ref> A third-generation rancher, his family members raised cattle and sheep in southeastern Montana from 1885.<ref name="Govenar">{{cite book |editor-last=Govenar |editor-first=Alan |year=2001 |chapter=Wallace McRae: Anglo-American Cowboy Poet |title=Masters of Traditional Arts: A Biographical Dictionary |volume=2 (K-Z) |location=Santa Barbara, California |publisher=ABC-Clio |pages=422–423 |isbn=1576072401 |oclc=47644303}}</ref>

He attended grade school and high school in nearby Colstrip, Montana. He graduated from Montana State University in 1958 with a degree in zoology and chemistry.<ref name="montana">{{cite web |url=http://alumni.montana.edu/news/collegian/archive/Spring2005/poets.htm |title=Cowboy Poets: linking art and agriculture through rhyme on the range |last=Arthur |first=Jean |date=Spring 2005 |website=alumni.montana.edu |publisher=Collegian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060901102324/http://alumni.montana.edu/news/collegian/archive/Spring2005/poets.htm |archive-date=September 1, 2006 |access-date=3 January 2018}}</ref> After college, he was commissioned by the United States Navy and served in both the Atlantic and Mediterranean fleets. Following the death of his father in 1960, McRae returned to Montana with his wife Ruth Hayes to take over the family ranching operations.<ref name="Govenar"/>

McRae died on June 22, 2025, at the age of 89.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wallace McRae, age 89, of Colstrip |url=https://stevensonfuneralhomes.com/obituaries/wallace-mcrae-age-87-of-colstrip/ |access-date=2025-06-25 |website=stevensonfuneralhomes.com}}</ref>

==Career== McRae recalled having recited his first poem at age 4, at the one-room schoolhouse attended by his sisters. Thereafter, he published more than 100 poems on topics both humorous and romantic, as well as matters of social concern such as environmental protection.<ref name="nhf">{{cite web |url=http://arts.gov/honors/heritage/wallace-mcrae |title=Wallace McRae: Cowboy Poet |author= |date=n.d. |website=www.arts.gov |publisher=National Endowment for the Arts |access-date=December 9, 2020}}</ref>

As a poet, McRae was considered a "fixture at national cowboy poet gatherings" and was "internationally known for his poem 'Reincarnation' ".<ref name="montana"/> Since 2015, McRae was an invited performer at every Elko Cowboy Poetry Gathering.<ref name="montana2">{{cite web |url=https://www.distinctlymontana.com/wally152 |title=Montanans You Should Know: Wally McRae |author= |date=March 21, 2015 |website=www.distinctlymontana.com |publisher=Star Ridge New Media |access-date=4 January 2018}}</ref>

Journalist Charles Kuralt discussed McRae's efforts to preserve the land and the cowboy way of life in a small community in his book, ''Charles Kuralt's America''.<ref name="Kuralt">{{cite book |last=Kuralt |first=Charles |date=1996 |title=Charles Kuralt's America |location=New York |publisher=Anchor Books |pages=205–208 |isbn=9780385485104 |oclc=34690902 |author-link=Charles Kuralt}}</ref> McRae was the subject of a segment on the American TV newsmagazine series ''60 Minutes''<ref name="montana2"/> and he read his poetry in a 1999 episode of the PBS series ''P.O.V.''<ref>{{cite news |last=Toner |first=Noreen |date=September 19, 1999 |title=Documentary Features Art of Abescon Twins |work=The Press of Atlantic City |location=Atlantic City, NJ |page=Entertainment section, B1}}</ref> His poems have been included in many anthologies of cowboy poetry.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cowboypoetry.com/anthologies.htm#Poet |title=Cowboy Poetry Anthologies Index |author= |website=www.cowboypoetry.com |publisher=Center for Western and Cowboy Poetry |access-date=4 January 2018}}</ref> In addition, McRae wrote the foreword to a collection of cowboy poetry published in 2000.<ref name="McWhorter">{{cite book |last=McWhorter |first=Larry |editor1-last=Coggin |editor1-first=Janice |editor2-last=Coggin |editor2-first=Mason |year=2000 |title=Cowboy Poetry |location=Phoenix, AZ |publisher=Cowboy Miner Productions |isbn=9780966209136 |oclc=44514318}}</ref>

==Awards and honors== * 1989: Governor's Award for the Arts in Montana<ref name="montana"/> * 1990: National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/year/1990 |title=NEA National Heritage Fellowships 1990 |author= |website=www.arts.gov |publisher=National Endowment for the Arts |access-date=December 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519212749/https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/year/1990 |archive-date=May 19, 2020 |url-status=dead}}</ref> * Nominated by President Bill Clinton to serve on the National Council of the Arts{{cn|date=June 2025}} * 1999: ''The Missoulian'' listed McRae as number 42 in the Most Influential Montanans of the Century<ref>{{cite web |title=100 Most Influential Montanans of the Century |publisher=The Missoulian newspaper |url=http://www.missoulian.com/specials/100montanans/list/042.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010303143533/http://www.missoulian.com/specials/100montanans/list/042.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 March 2001 |access-date=11 April 2009}}</ref> * 2009: Montana Book of the Year award for ''Stick Horses''<ref name="montana2"/> * 2020: Inducted into the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame, with the Living Award<ref>{{cite news |author= |date=July 29, 2021 |title=Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame to celebrate inductees August 14 in Great Falls |url=https://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana-cowboy-hall-of-fame-to-celebrate-inductees-august-14-in-great-falls/article_03d96a5f-1af2-57ee-af81-9656a92b4cbe.html |work=Billings Gazette |location=Billings, Montana |access-date=October 18, 2021}}</ref> * H.G. Merriam Award, University of Montana Mansfield Library<ref name="montana2"/>

==Published works== *''Stick Horses and Other Stories of Ranch Life'' (2009)<ref>{{cite book |last=McRae |first=Wallace |date=2009 |title=Stick Horses and Other Stories of Ranch Life |edition=1st |location=Layton, UT |publisher=Gibbs Smith |isbn=9781423605911 |oclc=259258556}}</ref> *''Cowboy Curmudgeon and Other Poems'' (1992)<ref>{{cite book |last=McRae |first=Wallace |date=1992 |title=Cowboy Curmudgeon and Other Poems |url=https://archive.org/details/cowboycurmudgeon0000mcra |edition=1st |location=Salt Lake City, UT |publisher=Gibbs Smith |isbn=9780879054632 |oclc=24628221 |url-access=registration}}</ref> *''Things of Intrinsic Worth: Poems'' (1989)<ref>{{cite book |last=McRae |first=Wallace D. |date=1989 |title=Things of Intrinsic Worth |others=illustrated by Clinton Y. McRae |location=Bozeman, MT |publisher=Outlaw Books |isbn=9780945960027 |oclc=22137021}}</ref> *''It's Just Grass & Water: Poems'' (1986)<ref>{{cite book |last=McRae |first=Wallace |date=1986 |title=It's Just Grass and Water |edition=1st trade |location=Spokane, WA |publisher=Oxalis |oclc=17643917}}</ref> *''Up North is Down the Crick: Poems'' (1985)<ref>{{cite book |last=McRae |first=Wallace |date=1985 |title=Up North is Down the Crick |location=Bozeman, MT |publisher=Museum of the Rockies, Montana State University |isbn=9780933819009 |oclc=12751826}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{imdb name|13533530}} * {{discogs artist|Wally McRae}} * [http://www.cowboypoetry.com/mcrae.htm McRae feature includes text of five poems, including "Reincarnation" and "Things of Intrinsic Worth"] * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrHcjUdenEc Short film on McRae, including his recitation of "Things of Intrinsic Worth"]

{{DEFAULTSORT:McRae, Wally}} Category:1936 births Category:2025 deaths Category:American male poets Category:Culture of the Western United States Category:People from Rosebud County, Montana Category:Cowboys Category:Cowboy poets Category:National Heritage Fellowship winners Category:20th-century American poets Category:21st-century American poets Category:Montana State University alumni Category:20th-century American male writers Category:21st-century American male writers