Colorado Trail A beautiful cowboy love song. All sources point to a cowboy from Duluth, MN whose name is unknown. He was brought to the hospital after being thrown and trampled by what he called "a terribly bad hoss." A surgeon, Dr. T.L. Chapman, treated the wrangler for "bones of both upper and lower legs broken, fractures of the collar bone on both sides, numerous fractures of both arms and wrists, and many scars from lacerations." As the unknown cowboy convalesced and his strength returned, he sang across the hospital ward in a mellowed tenor voice, and the other patients always called for more. One of the songs he sang was Colorado Trail. Dr. Chapman later remembered the tune to poet and folk singer Carl Sandburg, who included it in his collection The American Songbag.
Source: The American Songbag, by Carl Sandburg. Harcourt, Brace and Jovanovich. Recordings on file by: Cisco Houston, Faith Petric, The Weavers.