Cat. #1155 (MFH #806) - As sung by Audrey Barclay, Springfield, Missouri on September 19, 1970
VERSE 1
I'll sing you a song, it may prove a sad one
My troubles an' trials when first they begun
I left my kind friends an' relations at home
An' started for th mountains an' valleys to roam
VERSE 2
I crossed th Missouri an' joined a small train
Which soon -- ---- ----- -- - - --- an' plain
An' often while crossing out hunting we'd go
To shoot th fleet animals an' wild buffalo
VERSE 3
We traveled two weeks till we came to the Platto
Were we pitched out our tents at th head of th Platto
We formed a corral on th green grassy ground
Our mules an' our horses were grazing close 'round
VERSE 4
While taking refreshments we heard a wild yell
What happened thereafter is a sad tale to tell
A band of Sioux Indians one-hundred or more
While of our small band there was just twenty-four
VERSE 5
We sprang for our rifles with a flash in each eye
Brave men, cried our leader, we'll fight till we die
They made a bold dash with a hup and a yell
At th crack of our rifles just six of them fell
VERSE 6
Their arrows fell 'round us like hail in th sand
Our leader he sprang to th head of th band
An' with our long rifles we fed them cold lead
Till many a Sioux Indian around us lay dead
VERSE 7
We shot th bold Chief at th head of their band
He died like a warrior with his bow in his hand
An' seeing their bold Chief lying dead in his gore
They hooped and they yelled an' we saw them no more
VERSE 8
We hitched up our horses n' started our train
Just two more boody battles while crossing th plain
An' in these two battles just two brave boys fell
We laid them to rest in a green shady dell
VERSE 9
We traveled by day an' we traveled by night
Till th tops of high mountains were plainly in sight
Th miners had started a small little town
That's where I begin my first prospectin' 'round
VERSE 10
I prospected for years but no gold could I find
Instead of being twenty I'm now thirty-nine
I'll keep prospecting an' never bequile
An' think of my Father an' Mother, sweet child