Juan Ramos, Cowboy Camp Cook
The fall roundup, Old Brown Ranch in 1976
Sat below Cathedral Peak, Calamity Creek was running slow
A mule deer behind almost every cedar tree
Old Juan was getting ready for his day of tricks
It was early in the morning, he wanted everyone to know
Pots and pans clanging, it was even three
Oak wood camp fire, coffee was about to boil
Good chill in the air, frost everywhere
Juan was making his dough for camp bread
Fed the cowboys like they were royal
Best eating I ever had, I swear
Always wore a long red apron, silver belly hat on his head
His menu was always the same, beans, taters and steak
Didn't speak English or Spanish, he mumbled and grumbled
Always was in a good mood, except when he was mad
Cowboys never complained, even if he made a mistake
Cowboyed all his life, until that old pony stumbled
Then took to cookin, the wreck messed up his leg pretty bad
He was the chef in his outside cowboy eatery, top of the line
If you were expecting fancy, Juan was not formal
In a Dutch Oven, he could make one fine cherry cobbler
Juan did like a bit of that old wine
Guess that was his way of trying to be normal
Juan Ramos, helluva a camp cook, if you could keep him sober
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