The "real deal" (Click to enlarge)

Her honors and awards are too numerous to mention, but they include multiple-year nominations for Female Cowboy Poet of the Year from the Western Music Association. Sam's also the recipient of the 2008 Will Rogers Award for Humorist of the Year from the Academy of Western Artists.

Beside all the gatherings she attends, the shows, fairs and festivals, trips to schools to talk with kids about Cowboy Poetry, Sam has, for many years, been chosen as one of the judges for the annual National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo competitions.

Make no mistake, Sam knows what she's talking about. Twenty-plus years a rancher's wife; she's herded horses, cows, sheep, and daughters. Read more about Sam on her bio page.

Hear her tell it in her own words from the introductory track of the Women of the West CD: