I've always been fond of the arrangement that Carl Sandburg presented in THE AMERICAN SONGBAG, pub. by Harcourt, Brace & Co., © 1927, pp. 12-13:

I ride an old Paint, I lead an old Dan,
I'm goin' to Montan' for to throw the hoolian*,
They feed in the coulees, they water in the draw,
Their tails are all matted, their back are all raw.

Chorus:

Ride around, little dogies,
Ride around them slow,
For the fiery and snuffy are a-rarin' to go.**

Old Bill Jones had two daughters and a song,
One went to Denver and the other went wrong,
His wife she died in a poolroom fight,
Still he sings from mornin' till night. (CHO)

Oh, when I die, take my saddle from the wall,
Put it on my pony, lead him out of his stall,
Tie my bones to his back, turn our faces to the West,
And we'll ride the prairie that we love the best. (CHO)

* & ** not a clue what these words mean but I always loved their sound.

In his notes Sandburg says this song came "from a buckaroo who was last heard of as heading for the Border with friends in both Tucson and El Paso."

Not even a spinter of a tree in this version, nor a drop of ocean!

Cheerily,
Chaley Noble