Carmen William "Curley" Fletcher (18921954), also known as Curley W. Fletcher and Curley Fletcher, was an American composer of

cowboy songs Western music is a form of music composed by and about the people who settled and worked throughout the Western United States and Western Canada. Western music celebrates the lifestyle of the cowboy on the open range, along the Rocky Mountains, ...

and

cowboy poetry Cowboy poetry is a form of poetry that grew from a tradition of cowboys telling stories. Authorship Contrary to common belief, cowboy poetry does not actually have to be written by cowboys, though adherents would claim that authors should have s ...

. A prolific creator of this material, he is best remembered for the classic cowboy song "

The Strawberry Roan ''The Strawberry Roan'' is a 1948 American western drama film directed by John English and starring Gene Autry, Gloria Henry and Jack Holt. It was distributed by Columbia Pictures. It was the first of two Autry Columbia films shot in Cinecol ...

", written in 1915, and for his 1931 book ''Songs of the Sage''.

Career

Like many similar artists, Fletcher had numerous occupations, including cowboy/cowhand, mineral prospector, poet, champion rodeo rider as well as promoter, musician, publisher, movie actor, and advisor for Hollywood films. His songs and poems are regarded as strong material that comes across beautifully with or without music. They have been recorded by many musicians, particularly

Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American country and western singer and songwriter. He was one of the most popular and successful singers of his genre for most o ...

and

Michael Martin Murphey Michael Martin Murphey (born March 14, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter. He was one of the founding artists of progressive country. A multiple Grammy nominee, Murphey has six gold albums, including ''Cowboy Songs (Michael Martin Murphey alb ...

. He appeared as a rancher in the 1947 movie ''Gunsmoke''.

Personal life

Fletcher was born on September 22, 1892, in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

to an Italian immigrant Benedetta Rossi and English Sailor William Henry "Harry" Fletcher Sr. The Fletchers moved to

Bishop, California Bishop (formerly Bishop Creek) is the only incorporated city in Inyo County, California, United States. It is located near the northern end of the Owens Valley within the Mojave Desert, at an elevation of . The city was named after Bishop Creek ...

where Curley grew up with his three brothers and two sisters. Around 1914, Curley was wed to his childhood sweetheart, Minnie Edna Flesher. However, she died about ten years later, in 1926, leaving Curley heartbroken. In 1931 or 1932 Curley married Marie Alice Welch, daughter of Canadian mural artist Guy Martin Welch. They had one child, Dawn Eden Fletcher, born October 21, 1933. They later divorced. Curley married Joan Putters in 1945. The two stayed together until Curley's death, September 5, 1954.

References

1892 births 1954 deaths Songwriters from San Francisco People from Bishop, California Cowboy culture Cowboy poets Cowboys 20th-century American songwriters {{songwriter-stub