Biography

Charles Badger Clark was born on January 1, 1883 in Albia, Iowa

Albia, Iowa

Albia is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County, Iowa, United States. The population was 3,706 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Albia's longitude and latitude coordinatesin decimal form are 41.026600, −92.805262....

. His family moved to Dakota Territory

Dakota Territory

The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota.The Dakota Territory consisted of...

, where his father served as a Methodist preacher in Huron

Huron, South Dakota

Huron is a city in Beadle County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 12,592 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Beadle County. Huron was the home of now-defunct Huron University since 1897. Huron is also the home of the South Dakota State Fair...

, Mitchell

Mitchell, South Dakota

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 14,558 people, 6,121 households, and 3,599 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,475.7 people per square mile . There were 6,555 housing units at an average density of 664.4 per square mile...

, Deadwood

Deadwood, South Dakota

Deadwood is a city in South Dakota, United States, and the county seat of Lawrence County. It is named for the dead trees found in its gulch. The population was 1,270 according to a 2010 census...

 and Hot Springs

Hot Springs, South Dakota

Hot Springs is a city in Fall River County, South Dakota, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 3,711. It is the county seat of Fall River County...

. He dropped out of Dakota Wesleyan University

Dakota Wesleyan University

Dakota Wesleyan University is a four-year university located in Mitchell, South Dakota, founded in 1885, that is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The student body averages slightly less than 800 students...

 after he clashed with one of its founders, C.B. Clark. He travelled to Cuba

Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...

, returned to Deadwood, South Dakota

Deadwood, South Dakota

Deadwood is a city in South Dakota, United States, and the county seat of Lawrence County. It is named for the dead trees found in its gulch. The population was 1,270 according to a 2010 census...

, where he contracted tuberculosis

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...

, then moved to Tombstone, Arizona

Tombstone, Arizona

Tombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It was one of the last wide-open frontier boomtowns in the American Old West. From about 1877 to 1890, the town's mines produced USD $40 to $85 million...

 to assuage his illness with the dry weather. He returned again to South Dakota in 1910 to take care of his ailing father. There, he contracted tuberculosis

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...

. In 1925, he moved to a cabin in Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park is a state park and wildlife reserve in the Black Hills of southwestern South Dakota, USA. The park is South Dakota's largest and first state park, named after Lt...

 in the Black Hills

Black Hills

The Black Hills are a small, isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, USA. Set off from the main body of the Rocky Mountains, the region is something of a geological anomaly—accurately described as an "island of...

 of South Dakota, where he lived for thirty years.

In 1937, he was named the Poet Laureate of South Dakota by Governor Leslie Jensen

Leslie Jensen

Leslie Jensen was an American politician. He served as the 15th Governor of South Dakota.-Background:...

. His work was published in Sunset Magazine, Pacific Monthly

Pacific Monthly

Pacific Monthly was a magazine of politics, culture, literature, and opinion, published in Portland, Oregon, United States from 1898 to 1911, when it was purchased by Southern Pacific Railroad and merged with its magazine, Sunset...

, Arizona Highways, Colliers

Collier's Weekly

Collier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....

, Century Magazine, the Rotarian, and Scribners.

He died on September 26, 1957.

His poem entitled 'Lead by America' was performed by the Fred Waring Chorus

Fred Waring

Fredrick Malcolm Waring was a popular musician, bandleader and radio-television personality, sometimes referred to as "America's Singing Master" and "The Man Who Taught America How to Sing." He was also a promoter, financial backer and namesake of the Waring Blendor, the first modern electric...

 in 1957. In 1969, Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

 recorded 'Spanish is the Loving Tongue'. In America by Heart, Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin

Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...

quotes his poem entitled 'A Cowboy's Prayer' as one of the prayers she likes to say.