I rode a line on the open range
When cow-punchin' wasn't slow
I've turned the longhorn steer one way
The other the buffalo
I went up the trail in the eighties
Oh the hardships I have stood
I drank the water from cow-tracks boys
When you bet it tasted good
I've rode night guard many a night
In the face of a drivin' storm
And sang to them steers a doleful song
As they rattled their hogs and horns
I've been in many a stampede too
I've heard the rumblin' noise
And the light we had to turn them by
Was the lightning on their horns
But many a cowboy I rode with in
Is sleepin' on old Boot Hill
And the last cow drive was made to dodge
On the Jones and Plummer trail
They're building towns and railroads now
Where we used to bed our cows
And the man with the mule, the plow and how
Is digging up our old bed ground
The old cowboy has watched the change
Seen the good times come and go
But the old cowboy will soon be gone
Just like the buffalo