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.