96
SONGS OF THE COWBOYS
LITTLE JOE, THE WRANGLER
By N. Howard Thorp
Written by me on trail of herd of O Cattle from Chimney Lake, New Mexico, to Higgins, Texas, 1898. On trail were the following men, all from Sacramento Mountains, or Crow Flat: Pap Logan, Bill Blevens, Will Brownfield, Will Fenton, Lije Colfelt, Tom Mews, Frank Jones, and myself. It was copyrighted and appeared in my first edition of “Songs of the Cowboys,” published in 1908.
Little Joe, the wrangler, will never wrangle more;
His days with the “remuda” — they are done.
’T was a year ago last April he joined the outfit here,
A little “Texas stray” and all alone.
His days with the “remuda” — they are done.
’T was a year ago last April he joined the outfit here,
A little “Texas stray” and all alone.
’T was long late in the evening he rode up to the herd
On a little old brown pony he called Chow;
With his brogan shoes and overalls a harder-looking kid,
You never in your life had seen before.
On a little old brown pony he called Chow;
With his brogan shoes and overalls a harder-looking kid,
You never in your life had seen before.
His saddle ’t was 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.
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 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 Chow one night and “lit a shuck” this way —
Thought he'd try and paddle now his own canoe.
And his new ma beat him every day or two;
So he saddled up old Chow one night and “lit a shuck” this way —
Thought he'd try and paddle now his own canoe.
