"My friends and relations, they live in the Nation,
They know not where their boy has gone,
He first came to Texas and hired to a ranchman
Oh, I'm a young cowboy and I know I've done wrong."

Clearly "The Nation" does not refer to Texas, as 'the relations' live there, so presumably 'the boy' lived there before he 'first came to Texas'. You only come from A to B, not from A to A

Nigel