Cowboy Songs, and Other Frontier Ballads. Various

The first thought that struck me, my time had come to die.

      I saw the Indians coming, I heard them give the yell;

       My feelings at that moment, no tongue can ever tell.

       I saw the glittering lances, their arrows round me flew,

       And all my strength it left me and all my courage too.

      We fought full nine hours before the strife was o'er,

       The like of dead and wounded I never saw before.

       And when the sun was rising and the Indians they had fled,

       We loaded up our rifles and counted up our dead.

      And all of us were wounded, our noble captain slain,

       And the sun was shining sadly across the bloody plain.

       Sixteen as brave rangers as ever roamed the West

       Were buried by their comrades with arrows in their breast.

      'Twas then I thought of mother, who to me in tears did say,

       "To you they are all strangers, with me you had better stay."

       I thought that she was childish, the best she did not know;

       My mind was fixed on ranging and I was bound to go.

      Perhaps you have a mother, likewise a sister too,

       And maybe you have a sweetheart to weep and mourn for you;

       If that be your situation, although you'd like to roam,

       I'd advise you by experience, you had better stay at home.

      I have seen the fruits of rambling, I know its hardships well;

       I have crossed the Rocky Mountains, rode down the streets of hell;

       I have been in the great Southwest where the wild Apaches roam,

       And I tell you from experience you had better stay at home.

      And now my song is ended; I guess I have sung enough;

       The life of a ranger I am sure is very tough.

       And here's to all you ladies, I am sure I wish you well,

       I am bound to go a-ranging, so ladies, fare you well.

      THE MORMON BISHOP'S LAMENT

      I am a Mormon bishop and I will tell you what I know.

       I joined the confraternity some forty years ago.

       I then had youth upon my brow and eloquence my tongue,

       But I had the sad misfortune then to meet with Brigham Young.

      He said, "Young man, come join our band and bid hard work farewell,

       You are too smart to waste your time in toil by hill and dell;

       There is a ripening harvest and our hooks shall find the fool

       And in the distant nations we shall train them in our school."

      I listened to his preaching and I learned all the role,

       And the truth of Mormon doctrines burned deep within my soul.

       I married sixteen women and I spread my new belief,

       I was sent to preach the gospel to the pauper and the thief.

      'Twas in the glorious days when Brigham was our only Lord and King,

       And his wild cry of defiance from the Wasatch tops did ring,

       'Twas when that bold Bill Hickman and that Porter Rockwell led,

       And in the blood atonements the pits received the dead.

      They took in Dr. Robertson and left him in his gore,

       And the Aiken brothers sleep in peace on Nephi's distant shore.

       We marched to Mountain Meadows and on that glorious field

       With rifle and with hatchet we made man and woman yield.

      'Twas there we were victorious with our legions fierce and brave.

       We left the butchered victims on the ground without a grave.

       We slew the load of emigrants on Sublet's lonely road

       And plundered many a trader of his then most precious load.

      Alas for all the powers that were in the by-gone time.

       What we did as deeds of glory are condemned as bloody crime.

       No more the blood atonements keep the doubting one in fear,

       While the faithful were rewarded with a wedding once a year.

      As the nation's chieftain president says our days of rule are o'er

       And his marshals with their warrants are on watch at every door,

       Old John he now goes skulking on the by-roads of our land,

       Or unknown he keeps in hiding with the faithful of our band.

      Old Brigham now is stretched beneath the cold and silent clay,

       And the chieftains now are fallen that were mighty in their day;

       Of the six and twenty women that I wedded long ago

       There are two now left to cheer me in these awful hours of woe.

       The rest are scattered where the Gentile's flag's unfurled

       And two score of my daughters are now numbered with the world.

      Oh, my poor old bones are aching and my head is turning gray;

       Oh, the scenes were black and awful that I've witnessed in my day.

       Let my spirit seek the mansion where old Brigham's gone to dwell,

       For there's no place for Mormons but the lowest pits of hell.

      DAN TAYLOR

      Dan Taylor is a rollicking cuss,

       A frisky son of a gun,

       He loves to court the maidens

       And he savies how it's done.

      He used to be a cowboy

       And they say he wasn't slow,

       He could ride the bucking bronco

       And swing the long lasso.

      He could catch a maverick by the head

       Or heel him on the fly,

       He could pick up his front ones

       Whenever he chose to try.

      He used to ride most anything;

       Now he seldom will.

       He says they cut some caper in the air

       Of which he's got his fill.

      He is done and quit the business,

       Settled down to quiet life,

       And he's hunting for some maiden

       Who will be his little wife—

      One who will wash and patch his britches

       And feed the setting hen,

       Milk old Blue and Brindy,

       And tend to baby Ben.

      Then he'll build a cozy cottage

       And furnish it complete,

       He'll decorate the walls inside

       With pictures new and sweet.

      He will leave off riding broncos

       And be a different man;

       He will do his best to please his wife

       In every way he can.

      Then together in double harness

       They will trot along down the line,