Wally McRae

As a poet, McRae is considered a "fixture at national cowboy poet gatherings" and is "internationally known for his poem 'Reincarnation' ". As of 2015, McRae has been an invited performer at every Elko Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

The American journalist Charles Kuralt discusses McRae's efforts to preserve the land and the cowboy way of life in a small community in his book, Charles Kuralt's America. The poem "Things of Intrinsic Worth" appears with the interview in the Kuralt book. McRae was the subject of a segment on the American TV newsmagazine series 60 Minutes and he read his poetry in a 1999 episode of the PBS series P.O.V. His poems have been included in many anthologies of cowboy poetry. In addition, McRae wrote the foreword to a collection of cowboy poetry published in 2000.

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. 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.

Wallace D. "Wally" McRae (born February 26, 1936) is an American rancher, cowboy, cowboy poet and philosopher. He runs the 30,000-acre (120 km) Rocker Six Cattle Co. ranch on Rosebud Creek, south of Rosebud, Montana.

McRae is a third-generation rancher, his family members having raised cattle and sheep in southeastern Montana since 1885.