Living the Cowboy Ways
It was pretty late in September
and I was over the Billings way
I was riding fence for Freddie White
on the west end of the Rockin Bar J
Well night time can fall pretty early
come along bout that time of the year
I started me up a little fire
and was cleaning up some of my gear
That's when I heard a "Whoo-up in camp"
softly floating over the pine trees
At first I thought it was ole Freddie
come a ridin' out to shoot the breeze
"Come on in" I yelled right back to him
my hand sittin firmly on my gun
When in rides this old bearded cowboy
looked to be bout a hundred and one
Well he said his name to be Johnson
so with that I passed him my name too
Asked him if he'd like to sit a spell
maybe share a little of my stew
For I had gauged him up to be a
decent and right honest man you see
‘Cause he seemed to hold himself just right
and by the soft way he spoke to me
So after we tossed down our bedrolls
and we had hunkered down near the flames
That's when Johnson pulled his red eye flask
we started toasting old cowboy names
Those names like Billy Brooks, Bose Ikard
Goodnight, Conrad Kohrs and Otto Franc
Olly Loving, John Chisum and with each name
we tipped the flask and drank
As all the old cowboys tend to do
we reminisced ‘bout the olden days
And all the things we used to do
while living the good cowpuncher’s ways
How these here youngsters nowadays ain't
got no clue ‘bout how things used to be
When a man could go from here to there
live and ride the range completely free
Johnson had seen just fifteen summers
when he started his first cattle drive
Sixty more winters have passed him by
he said his luck had kept him alive
For him riding herd out on the range
is the only life he's ever knowed
He said he would never trade that way
for no diamonds, jewels or gold
Well just about dawn the next morning
after we shook hands and parted ways
I knew that I too would never leave
behind me, these good old cowboy days
So when you find my bones out on the range
with my gun and saddle by my side
Just know I was still living the cowboy ways
when I took my final ride
Copyright © Jerry Brotherton | Year Posted 2023
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