I transcribed this from Spotify:


JUAN GUADALUPE
As sung by Mike Beck (and another singer unknown to me) on Mike Beck's album "Cowboys & Angels"

1. How he ended up here from Yacateca,* God only knows,
With an old straw hat, a denim coat, and one pair of clothes.
It's a long, long way to Elko from the place he knows.
He's Juan Guadalupe, from Old Mexico.

2. His heritage is of the proud vaquero,
And the riata in his hands you know he can throw,
And the ways of cattle and horses he does know.
He's Juan Guadalupe, from Old Mexico.

BRIDGE: But he hasn't got a dime to show,
'Cause his paycheck goes
To feed his family down in Mexico,
And his wife of fifteen years
Sees him at Christmas, every other year.
When his kids line up to say goodbye,
They all try not hard to cry
For Juan Guadalupe, from Old Mexico.

3. While camped on the Oahe River* out at Summer Flats*
The Oregon Kid, he bucked me off and I lost my hat,
And he just sorta grinned, said "Muy bronco" as he led him back.
He's Juan Guadalupe, from old Mexico.

4. He had a dog named Pinto that he packed around.
With the two of them, you could gather steers and sure cover some ground.
At night in the camp, Pinto was fed and watered 'fore Juan bedded down.
He's Juan Guadalupe from old Mexico.

[REPEAT BRIDGE]

He's Juan Guadalupe.
He's one proud vaquero.


[* Normally I like to check the spelling of place-names, but I am unable to find Yacateca, Oahe River, or Summer Flats. I suppose Summer Flats could be a local name for any place where a herd grazes in summer. There is an Oahe Dam on the Missouri River in South Dakota, and Lake Oahe, a reservoir, behind it, but it is a long way from Elko, Nevada. Zacatecas is a city and state in Mexico, but it doesn't sound like they're singing that.]