Cat. #0623 (MFH #69) - As sung by Boyce Davis, Lincoln, Arkansas on February 29, 1968
VERSE 1
Bill Vanero heard them say
In an Arizona town one day
That a band of Apache Indians
Were on th trail that way
VERSE 2
Then gazing all around
Picked his lasso off th ground
He beckoned to his pony
Not many steps away
VERSE 3
They had heard of murder done
Two men killed on Rocky Run
But his thoughts were on th cow ranch
No th boys on Rocky run
VERSE 4
With a bright an' hissing whir
An' a jingle of th spur
Th pony bore th cowboy
Far away t' home an' friends
VERSE 5
Cross th alkalie flat he sped
While his thoughts were all ahead
Of Bessie at th cow ranch
An' th boys on Rocky Run
VERSE 6
Just then a rifle shot
Echoed through his somber thought
Bill Vanero said, I'm wounded
And he swayed from side to side
VERSE 7
Yet while there's life there's hope
And slowly onward I will lope
Then Bill Vanero halted
In th shadow of th hill
VERSE 8
An' fom his chaps he took
With weary hands a book
Tore a blank leaf from it
Said, this will be my will
VERSE 9
From a tree a twig he broke
Slowly dipped his pen of hope
In his own life blood flowing
From th wound above his heart
VERSE 10
He wrote his message fast
His first love letter and his last
Pinned it to th saddle
An' gave his horse th reins
VERSE 11
At dusk a horse of brown
With th sweat come panting down
Down to th cow ranch
An' stopped at Bessie's door
VERSE 12
Th cowboy was asleep
An' his slumber was so deep
That Bessie could not wake him
Tho' she tried it o'er an' o'er
VERSE 13
You have heard th story told
By th young an' by the old
How th Indians got Vanero
On his ride from Rocky Run
VERSE 13
Many yars have passed away
Bessie's hair has turned to gray
Still she plants a wreath of flowers
On Bill Vanero's grave
Boyce said, his Dad used to sing this song