Lyr Add: Jules Allen: 6 Cowboy Songs

Subject: Jules Allen: 6 Songs
From: Stewie
Date: 21 May 00 - 01:51 AM

Like Carl T. Sprague, 'Powder River' Jack Lee and Edward L. Crane, Jules Verne Allen was one of the few early 'singing cowboys' who could be classified as an authentic cowboy singer. These few had genuine experience of the cattle camps, the ranches and the long trail drives. Allen was born on 1 April 1883 in Waxahatchie, Texas. He worked as a ranch boy, horse wrangler and herder of cattle from the Mexican border, north to the railheads in Montana. After a stint of military service during World War I, he became an entertainer, first on radio and then as a recording artist. The following are transcriptions of 6 of his classic recordings from 1928 and 1929. Although I love cowboy songs, I am very much a novice to the genre – most of the information below relating to the songs is drawn from one of the leading experts in cowboy lore: John I. White 'Git Along Little Dogies: Songs and Songmakers of the American West' University of Illinois Press. Most of these songs are not in the DT and the couple that are there already differ significantly from Allen's versions.

--Stewie.

Subject: Lyr Add: LITTLE JOE THE WRANGLER^^^
From: Stewie
Date: 21 May 00 - 01:53 AM

LITTLE JOE THE WRANGLER
(N. Howard Thorp)

It's Little Joe the Wrangler, he'll wrangle never more
His days with the remuda they are o'er
'Twas a year ago last April when he rode into the camp
Just a little Texas stray and all alone

It was late in the evening when he rode up to our herd
On a little Texas pony he called Chaw
With his broken shoes and overalls, a tougher lookin' kid
You never in your life before had saw

His saddle was a Texas kak, built many years ago
With an OK spur on one foot lightly swung
His hot roll in a cotton sack so loosely tied behind
And his canteen from his saddle horn was swung

He said he had to leave his home, his paw had married twice
And his new maw whipped him every day or two
So he saddled up old Chaw one night and lit a shuck this way
And now he's tryin' to paddle his own canoe

He said if we could give him work, he'd do the best he could
Though he didn't know straight up about a cow
So the boss he cut him out a mount and kindly put him on
For he sorta liked that little kid somehow

Learned him to wrangle horses and try to know them all
And to get them in at daylight if he could
To follow the chuck wagon and always hitch the team
And help the cocinero rustle wood

We had driven to the Pecos, the weather being fine
We had camped upon the southside in a bend
When a norther commenced blowin', we had doubled up our guard
For it had taken all of us to hold them in

Little Joe the Wrangler was called out with the rest
Though the little kid had scarcely reached the herd
When the cattle they stampeded, like a hailstorm long they fled
And we were all a-ridin' for the lead

'Midst the streaks of lightning a horse we seen ahead
'Twas Little Joe the Wrangler in the lead
He was ridin' old Blue Rocket with a slicker o'er his head
A-tryin' to check the cattle in their speed

At last we got them millin' and kind of quieted down
And the extra guard back to the wagon went
But there was one a-missing, and we knew it at a glance
'Twas our little Texas stray poor Wranglin' Joe

Next morning just at daybreak, we found where Rocket fell
Down in a washout twenty feet below
And beneath his horse, mashed to a pulp, his spur had rung his knell
Was our little Texas stray, poor Wranglin' Joe

As recorded by Jules Allen in El Paso, Texas, on 21 April 1928 Victor Vi 21470
Reissued on CD on Various Artists 'Western Cowboy Ballads & Songs 1925-39' Fremeaux & Associes FA 034

Glossary:
wrangling = looking after the horse herd – job given to new hand, especially a young one.
remuda = Spanish term for the horse herd
kak = another word for saddle, probably an inexpensive one
OK spur = OK was a brand name
hot roll = bedroll and personal belongings – bundle small enough to be tied behind saddle.
lit a shuck = derives from use of a corn husk or shuck as a torch – as it burned quickly, one had to move fast. Expression came to mean 'get away in a hurry'.
rustle wood = gather firewood
cocinero = Spanish term for cook
norther = southwestern term for blizzard
guards = men guarding cattle at night – usually worked in pairs for 2-hour shifts
milling = if the lead cattle in a stampede could be forced into continually turning in one direction, the herd would be milling or turning in a circle
slicker = raincoat – waving a slicker was one way of distracting the frightened animals

The song was composed by N. Howard Thorp who was born in New York in 1867. In his teens, he moved to the southwest and worked as a cowboy. He also collected, and sometimes composed, verses about cowboy life. In 1908, he published in New Mexico a small booklet called 'Songs of the Cowboys'. 'Little Joe the Wrangler' was among the 23 songs therein. Thorp gave no indication of the song's origin but, thirteen years later, when he published a new edition of his booklet, with many more songs, he admitted that he had written 'Little Joe' in 1898. It is usually sung to the tune of 'Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane'. Jules Allen's version differs from Thorp's original in some details. The original may be found in Austin E. and Alta S. Fife 'Songs of the Cowboys' Clarkson N. Potter Inc, New York 1966.

Subject: Lyr Add: PUNCHIN' THE DOUGH^^
From: Stewie
Date: 21 May 00 - 01:55 AM

PUNCHIN' THE DOUGH
(Henry Herbert Knibbs)

Come all you young waddies I'll sing you a song
Stand back from the wagon, stay where you belong
I've heard you observin' I'm fuzzy and slow
But while you're punchin' cattle, I'm punchin' the dough

Now I reckon your stomach would grow to your back
If it weren't for the cook who keeps fillin' the slack
With beans in the box and pork in the tub
I'm wonderin' now who would fill you with grub

You think you're right handy with gun and with rope
But I notice you're bashful when usin' the soap
When you're rollin' your Bull for your brown cigarette
I'm rollin' the dough for them biscuits you eat (et)

When you're cuttin' the stock, then I'm cuttin' a steak
When you're wranglin' horses, I'm wranglin' a cake
When you're hazin' your dogies, and battin' your eyes
I'm hazin' dried apples that aim to be pies

You brag about shootin' up windows and lights
But try shootin' biscuits for twelve appetites
When you crawl from your roll and the ground it is froze
Then who boils the coffee that thaws out your nose

In the old days the puchers just took what they got
It was sourbelly beans and the old coffee pot
But now you come howlin' for pie and for cake
Then cuss at the cook for a good bellyache

You say that I'm old with my feet on the skids
Well, I'm tellin' you now that you're nothin' but kids
If you reckon your mounts are some snakey and raw
Just try ridin' herd on a stove that won't draw

When you look at my apron, you're readin' my brand
Four X which is the sign for the best in the land
On bottle or sack it sure stands for good luck
So line up you waddies and wrangle your chuck

No use of your snortin' and fightin' your head
If you like it with chilli just take what I said
For I aim to be boss at this end of the show
While you're punchin' cattle, I'm punchin' the dough

As recorded by Jules Allen at Culver City, California, on 27 April 1929 Victor Vi V-40263
Reissued on Jules Allen 'Texas Cowboy' Folk Variety LP FV 12502
PS.

Glossary:
waddies = cowboys
Bull = Bull Durham tobacco
hazin' your dogies = working young cattle
feet on the skids = going down hill
snakey and raw = horses partly broken to the saddle
Four X = reference to a grade of sugar and a brand of whiskey – the cook's apron was made from a sugar sack.

The words of the song were composed by Henry Herbert Knibbs and it was sung to a tune pretty close to the ubiquitous 'Villikins and his Dinah'. Knibbs' book of songs 'Saddle Songs' was published by Houghton-Miffin Company, Boston in 1922.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Jules Allen: 6 Songs
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 May 00 - 01:56 AM

WOW!!!!!

~S~

Subject: Lyr Add: THE GAL I LEFT BEHIND ME^^^
From: Stewie
Date: 21 May 00 - 01:56 AM

THE GAL I LEFT BEHIND ME
(Unknown)

I struck the trail in seventy-nine
With the herd strung out behind me
As I jogged along my mind ran back
To the gal I left behind me

Chorus:
That sweet little gal, that true little gal
The gal I left behind me

If ever I get off the trail
And the Injuns they don't find me
I'll make my way straight back again
To the girl I left behind me

Chorus

The wind did blow, and the rain did flow
The hail did fall and blind me
I thought of that gal, that sweet little gal
The gal I left behind me

Chorus

She wrote ahead to the place I said
I was always glad to find it
She says, 'I'm true, when you get through
Right back here you'll find me'

Chorus

When we sold out, I took the train
I knew where I would find her
When I got back we had a smack
And I'm no gol-darned liar

As recorded by Jules Allen in El Paso, Texas, on 30 April 1928 Victor Vi V-40022
Reissued on CD on Various Artists 'When I Was a Cowboy Vol 2' Yazoo 2023
PS.

Some unknown cowboy poet's reworking of a favourite from the Old World.

Subject: Lyr Add: JACK O' DIAMONDS^^
From: Stewie
Date: 21 May 00 - 01:59 AM

JACK O'DIAMONDS

O Mollie, O Mollie, it's for your sake alone
That I'd leave my old parents, my house and my home
That I leave my old parents you cause me to roam
I'm a rabble soldier and Dixie's my home

Jack O'Diamonds, Jack O'Diamonds, I know you of old
You've robbed my poor pockets of silver and gold
Whiskey you villain, you've been my downfall
You've kicked me, you've cuffed me, but I love you for all

Her parents don't like me, they say I'm too poor
They say I'm unworthy to enter her door
They say I drink whiskey, but my money's my own
And them that don't like me can leave me alone

I'll eat when I'm hungry, I'll drink when I'm dry
And when I get thirsty I'll lay down and cry
It's beefsteak when I'm hungry and whiskey when I'm dry
Greenbacks when I'm hard up and heaven when I die

Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, rye whiskey I cry
If I don't get rye whiskey, I surely will die
O baby, O baby, I've told you before
Do make me a pallet, I'll lay on the floor

I will build me a castle on yonder mountain high
Where my true love can see me when she comes ridin' by
Where my true love can see me and help me to mourn
I'm a rabble soldier and Dixie's my home

I'll get up in my saddle, my quirt in my hand
And I'll think of you Mollie when in some distant land
I'll think of you Mollie, you caused me to roam
I'm a rabble soldier and Dixie's my home

If the ocean was whiskey and I was a duck
I would dive to the bottom to get sweet sup
But the ocean ain't whiskey, and I ain't no duck
So I'll play Jack O'Diamonds and try to change my luck

O baby, O baby, I've told you before
Do make me a pallet, I'll lay on your floor

I have rambled and gambled all my money away
But it's with the rabble army, O Mollie, I must stay
It is with the rabble army, O Mollie, I must roam
I'm a rabble soldier and Dixie's my home

Jack O'Diamonds, Jack O'Diamonds, I know you of old
You've robbed my poor pockets of silver and gold
Rye whiskey, rye whiskey, rye whisky I cry
If you don't give me rye whiskey, I'll lay down and die

O Baby, O Baby, I've told you before
Do make me a shake-down, I'll lay on the floor

As recorded by Jules Allen in El Paso, Texas, on 21 April 1928 Victor Vi 21407
Reissued on CD on Various Artists 'Western Cowboy Ballads & Songs' Fremeaux & Associes FA 034
PS

This was on the reverse side of Jules Allen's first record [backing 'Little Joe the Wrangler']. Allen sometimes sings 'rabble' (rebel) and at other times 'rebel'. The story appears in many collections under a variety of titles – for example, Sandburg gives 3 variants under the titles 'Rabble Soldier', 'Troubled Soldier' and 'Way Up on Clinch Mountain'. Another popular title for it is 'Rye Whiskey' and, in Kentucky and Missouri, it was titled 'Corn Whiskey'. By the time of the publication of John H. Cox's 'Folk-Songs of the South' Harvard Uni Press in 1925, the focus had shifted to war:

The Union men and Yankees have forced me from my home
I am a rebel soldier and far from my home

I'll eat when I'm hungry, I'll drink when I'm dry
If those Yankees don't kill me, I'll fight till I die

Although Allen's version shares some verses with the 'Rye Whiskey' text in the DT, I reckon it is sufficiently different as to deserve a place as a variant.

Subject: Lyr Add: LITTLE OLD SOD SHANTY^^^
From: Stewie
Date: 21 May 00 - 02:01 AM

LITTLE OLD SOD SHANTY
(Unknown)

I am looking rather seedy now while holding down my claim
And my victuals are not always served the best
And the mice play shyly round me as I nestle down to rest
In my little old sod shanty on my claim

The hinges are of leather and the windows have no glass
And the board roof lets the howling blizzards in
And I hear the hungry coyote as he slinks up through the grass
Round the little old sod shanty on my claim

But I rather like the novelty of living in this way
Though my bill-of-fare is often rather tame
And I'm happy as a clam on the land of Uncle Sam
In my little old sod shanty on my claim

My clothes are plastered o'er with dough, I'm looking like a fright
And everything is scattered round the room
Still I wouldn't give the freedom that I have out in the West
For the table of the old man's eastern home

Still I wish some kind-hearted girl would pity on me take
And relieve me from the mess that I am in
The angel, how I'd bless her if this her home would make
In the little old sod shanty on my claim

We would make our fortunes on the prairies of the West
Just as happy as two lovers we'd remain
We'd forget the trials and troubles we endured at the first
In the little old sod shanty on our claim

And if fate would bless us with now and then an heir
To cheer our hearts with honest pride and fame
Oh then we'd be contented for the toil we had spent
In the little old sod shanty we call home

As recorded by Jules Allen in Los Angeles, California, on 8 April 1929 Victor Vi 23757.
Reissued on Jules Allen 'The Texas Cowboy' Folk Variety LP FV12502.
PS.

Composed by some lonely bachelor who had filed a claim for 160 acres of free farming land under the Homestead Act signed by President Lincoln in 1862. The purpose of the act was to settle the prairie regions. If the homesteader lived on his claim and cultivated the land for 5 years, the land would become his to do with as he wished. Once again, this song was to be sung to the tune of 'Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane'. The song was also popular in Canada where, instead of the 'Uncle Sam' line, they sang:

I'm as happy as can be, 'cause I'm happy and I'm free
In my little old …

Subject: Lyr Add: CHISOLM TRAIL^^
From: Stewie
Date: 21 May 00 - 02:02 AM

CHISOLM TRAIL
(Unknown)

Chorus (after each verse):
Come-a ti yi youpy, youpy ya, youpy ya
Come-a ti yi youpy, youpy ya

Come gather round me boys and I'll tell you a tale
All about my troubles on the old Chisolm Trail

I started up the trail October twenty-third
I started up the trail with the 2-U herd

Oh I had a ten dollar hoss and a forty dollar saddle
And I started up the trail just punchin' Texas cattle

I woke up one morning on the old Chisolm Trail
With a rope in my hand and a cow by the tail

Old Ben Bolt was a blamed good boss
But he went to see the gals on a sore-backed hoss

Now old Ben Bolt was a blamed old man
You could bet there was whiskey wherever he would land

Out on the plains in all kinds of rains
I'm a swappin' saddle cinches and pullin' bridle reins

We hit Caldwell and we hit her on the fly
And we bedded down the cattle on a hill close by

It began to storm and the rain began to fall
And I thought by grab, we was gonna lose 'em all

I jumped in the saddle and grabbed a-hold of the horn
I'm the best blamed cowboy as ever was born

Stray in the bunch and boss said kill it
So I shot him in the rump with the handle of the skillet

We rounded up the herd and we put them on the cars
And that was the last if the old Two Bars

I went to the wagon to git my roll
He had me figured out nine dollars in the hole

I'll sell my outfit as soon as I can
And I wouldn't punch cows for no damned man

Feet in the stirrups and seat in the saddle
I hung and rattled with them long-horn cattle

As recorded by Jules Allen in Hollywood, California, on 28 March 1929. Victor Vi V-40167.
Reissued on Jules Allen 'Texas Cowboy' Folk Variety LP FV12502.
Another version, which shares a few verses with Allen's version, was recorded a year earlier (27 March 1927) in Los Angeles by Mac McClintock (Victor Vi-2421). This has been reissued on CD on Various Artists 'Western Cowboy Ballads and Songs' Fremeaux & Associes FA034.
PS.

One of the oldest of the cowboy songs. It dates back to the years soon after the Civil War when half-wild longhorns were driven from Texas to the shipping points on the new railroads in Kansas. The trail was named after a half-breed Indian trader, Jesse Chisolm. It went from central Texas, through the centre of Oklahoma and into eastern Kansas. The trail was eventually replaced by others farther to the west. There were numerous versions of the song, including some bawdy ones.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Jules Allen: 6 Songs
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 May 00 - 03:56 AM

This is terrific stuff, Stewie.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Jules Allen: 6 Songs
From: Art Thieme
Date: 21 May 00 - 05:09 PM

right on !

Art

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Jules Allen: 6 Songs
From: Sandy Paton
Date: 22 May 00 - 04:51 AM

Great job, Stewie! Jules Allen was the singer who brought Lee Haggerty into the folk world, via records Lee's family ordered from Sears & Roebuck. You could say, truthfully, that without Jules Allen there would be no Folk-Legacy Records.

Sandy

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Jules Allen: 6 Songs
From: Peter T.
Date: 22 May 00 - 02:29 PM

Great stuff, Stewie, I have that CD with "Powder River Jack" and Jules on it as well -- one of my favourites. You might want to check out the "O Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" thread I started awhile ago, if you missed it.

yours, Peter T.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE DYING COWBOY(from Jules Allen)^^^
From: Stewie
Date: 22 May 00 - 07:23 PM

Thanks to all for your kind words.

Sandy, I am pleased to learn that an old-time recording artist was indirectly responsible for the creation of your great label.

Peter T., I somehow missed your 'Lone prairie' thread. I just read it - great stuff! Jules Allen's version of the song share several verses with that posted by richr but is sufficiently different as to a warrant separate posting. I don't know how it compares with the one already in the DT because, for some reason, I have been unable to raise that - has it been removed? Here's the Jules Allen version:

THE DYING COWBOY

Oh bury me not on the lone prairie
These words came low and mournfully
From the pallid lips of a youth who lay
On his dying bed at the close of day

He had wailed in pain till o'er his brow
Death's shadows fast were gathering now
He thought of his home and his loved ones nigh
As the cowboys gathered to see him die

Oh bury me not on the lone prairie
Where the wild coyotes will howl o'er me
In a narrow grave just six by three
Oh bury me not on the lone prairie

It matters not, so I've oft been told
Where the body lies when the heart grows cold
Yet grant, oh grant, this wish to me
Oh bury me not on the lone prairie

Oh bury me not, and his voice failed there
But we took no heed of his dying prayer
In a narrow grave just six by three
We buried him there on the lone prairie

Oh we buried him there on the lone prairie
Where the wild rose blooms and the wind blows free
Oh his pale face nevermore to see
For we buried him there on the lone prairie

And the cowboys now as they roam the plains
For they marked the spot where his bones are lain
Fling a handful of roses o'er his grave
With a prayer to Him who his soul will save

As recorded by Jules Allen in Los Angeles, California, on 9 April 1929 Victor Vi-23834.
Reissued on Jules Allen 'The Texas Cowboy' Folk Variety LP FV12502.

My favourite of all Jules Allen's recordings is 'Longside of the Santa Fe Trail'. I did not post that because the version already posted to the forum by Abby Sale differs only in minor details from that sung by Allen.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Jules Allen: 6 Songs
From: Stewie
Date: 22 May 00 - 07:34 PM

Abby's posting and information on the song may be found here:

Santa Fe Trail

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Jules Allen: 6 Songs
From: Peter T.
Date: 23 May 00 - 04:31 PM

Stewie, did you ever read Jules Allen's book about cowboy life? (Forgotten the title, read it some time ago).

yours, Peter T.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Jules Allen: 6 Songs
From: Stewie
Date: 23 May 00 - 07:01 PM

Peter, I am aware of it, but I have not read it. I must seek it out. I think it is titled 'Cowboy Lore'.

Cheers, Stewie.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Jules Allen: 6 Songs
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 06 Mar 03 - 05:50 PM

"Little Joe the Wrangler" as posted here by Stewie, and in the DT, follows Thorp's original fairly well, but there is a misheard word in verse 2 and a sex change in verse 4.
Verse 2- brogan shoes, not broken. I guess brogan shoes (a heavy shoe, reaching to the ankle) are seldom worn now.
Verse 4- Thorp original- Ma, not Paw, beat him.

He said he had to leave his home, his daddy'd married twice
And his new ma beat him every day or two;
So he saddled up old Chaw one night and "Lit a shuck" this way
Thought he'd try and paddle now his own canoe.

There are other minor changes from the original as Thorp published it in 1908.
See Fife and Fife, Songs of the Cowboys, pp. 28-32, and facsimile original (unpaginated) following page 237.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Jules Allen: 6 Songs
From: DonMeixner
Date: 06 Mar 03 - 05:54 PM

Stewie,

I own a copy of his song book. Great resource.

Don

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Jules Allen: 6 Songs
From: Stewie
Date: 06 Mar 03 - 07:31 PM

Q - it is hard to believe that it is almost 3 years since I posted those. Where did the time go? Thanks for the corrections. 'Broken' reflected my mishearing and my ignorance; Allen sings 'brogan'. However, Allen made the sex change and changes to the 'canoe' line.

Don, I have no doubt that it is wonderful resource. If you have corrections to the above transcriptions, please post them.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Jules Allen: 6 Songs
From: GUEST, Dale
Date: 06 Mar 03 - 07:48 PM

Excellent research as always, Stewie (and thanks Q!), I missed these on the first go round. JVA is a favorite of mine, but you'd likely figure that.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Jules Allen: 6 Songs
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 24 Jul 04 - 11:23 PM

Refresh

Subject: Lyr Add: GOODBYE OLD PAINT (from Jules Allen)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 01 Sep 04 - 05:00 PM

In view of "Old Paint" lingo being gone over again, I looked up Jules Allen's version of the old song.

Lyr. Add: GOOD BYE OLD PAINT
Jules Verne Allen version

My feet are in the stirrups my bridle's in my hand
Good-bye my little dony my pony won't stand.
Good bye Old Paint I'm a-leavin' Cheyenne,

Chorus
Good bye Old Paint I'm a-leavin' Cheyenne,
I'm a-leavin' Cheyenne I'm off for Montan'
Good-bye Old Paint I'm a-leavin' Cheyenne.
(repeat at will)

Refrain:
My foot in the stirrup, my pony won't stand;
Goodby, Old Paint, I'm aleavin' Cheyenne.

I'm ridin' Old Paint, I'm aleadin' Old Fan;
Goodbye, Old Paint, I'm aleavin' Cheyenne.

I'm aleavin' Cheyenne, I'm off for Montan';
Goodbye, Old Paint, I'm aleavin' Cheyenne.

With my feet in the stirrups, my bridle in my hand
Goodbye, Old Paint, I'm aleavin Cheyenne.

Old Paint's a good pony, he paces when he can;
Goodby, little Annie, I'm off for Cheyenne.

Oh, hitch up your horses and feed them some hay,
And seat yourself by me so long as you stay.

My horses ain't hungry, they won't eat your hay;
My wagon is loaded and rolling away.

My foot in my stirrup, my reins in my hand;
Good-morning, young lady, my horse won't stand.

Goodbye, Old Paint, I'm aleavin' Cheyenne.
Goodbye, Old Paint, I'm aleavin' Cheyenne.

Jules Verne Allen, 1933, 1935, "Cowboy Lore," The Naylor Company, San Antonio, Texas, pp. 122-124 with music.
(Note: This little book was favorably reviewed in the New York Times)

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Jules Allen: 6 Cowboy Songs
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 11 Apr 05 - 05:37 PM

refresh

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Jules Allen: 6 Cowboy Songs
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 Aug 14 - 04:13 PM

"Little Joe, the Wrangler," as sung by Jules Verne Allen, is smoother than the original text by N. Howard Thorp, but the original has differences, perhaps most notable a change from Red River to Pecos.

Lyr. Add: LITTLE JOE, THE WRANGLER
N. Howard Thorp, 1908.

Little Joe, the Wrangler, will never wrangle more;
His days with the "Remuda:- they are done.
'Twas a year ago last April he joined the outfit here
A little "Texas Stray" and all alone.

'Twas long late in the evening he rode up to the herd
On a little old brown pony he called Chaw;
With his brogan shoes and overalls a harder looking kid
You never in your life had seen before.

His saddle 'twas a southern kack built many years ago,
An O. K. spur on one foot idly hung,
While his "hot roll" in a cotton sack was loosely tied behind
And a canteen from the saddle horn he'd slung.

He said he'd had to leave his home, his daddy'd married twice
And his new ma beat him every day or two;
So he saddled up old Chaw one night and "Lit a shuck" this way
Thought he'd try and paddle now his own canoe.

Said he'd try and do the best he could if we'd only give him work
Though he didn't know "straight" up about a cow,
So the boss he cut him out a mount and kinder put him on
For he sorter liked the little stray somehow.

Taught him how to herd the horses and to learn to know them all
To round 'em up by daylight; if he could
To follow the chuck wagon and to always hitch the team
And help the "Cocinero" rustle wood.

We'd driven to red river and the weather had been fine;
We were camped down on the south side in a bend
When a norther commenced blowing and we doubled up our guards
For it took all hands to hold the cattle then.

Little Joe the wrangler was called out with the rest
And scarcely had the kid got to the hers
When the cattle they stampeded; like a hail storm, long they flew
And all of us were riding for the lead.

'Tween the streaks of lightning we could see a horse far out ahead
'Twas little Joe the wrangler in the lead;
He was riding "old Blue Rocket" with his slicker 'bove his head
Trying to check the leaders in their spees.

At last we got them milling and kinder quieted down
And the extra guard back to the camp did go
But one of them was missin' and we all knew at a glance
'Twas our little Texas stray poor wrangler Joe.

Next morning just at sunup we found where Rocket fell
Down in a washout twenty feet below
Beneath his horse mashed to a pulp his horse had runt the knell
For our little Texas stray- poor wrangler Joe.

(Norther- several kinds. In the fall, a strong wind from the north, promising a winter to come, may lack moisture.
Later, a norther bearing thunder, strong winds and rain, often with hail.
Finally the norther of winter, strong wind and heavy, blowing snow.)

Reproduced from the original with punctuation preserved. "Songs of the Cowboys," N. Howard Thorp, News Print Shop, ESTANCIA, New Mexico, Copyright, 1908 N. Howard Thorp.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Jules Allen: 6 Cowboy Songs
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 03 Aug 14 - 04:16 PM

So the boss he cut him out a mount and kinder put him on....
Usually given as "kindly," which probably was what Thorp intended.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Jules Allen: 6 Cowboy Songs
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 15 Aug 14 - 04:04 PM

Jules Verne Allen changed the name of the river at which the drive was camped from Red River to Pecos.
A look at the map will show that this is unlikely, since the Pecos River enters the Rio Grande in west Texas, far to the south and west of the route to Kansas and the railroad. The Red River for part of its route is the border between Texas and what is now Oklahoma.

See thread "Jules Allen, 6 Cowboy Songs." 21644
Jules Allen

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Jules Allen: 6 Cowboy Songs
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Jul 22 - 06:15 AM

this song has a long title by jules vern allen. i did not know that he wrote this song and did not know that tune at all. i was interested to discover the tune is also sung in other songs as well. and thank you to all you folks for writing of your stories about this singing cowboy how he made great songs from the 1920s to his death in 1946. my revues will keep me going and might write a song to the same tune as the little shot shanty by the trail and talk about how i like my home myself.