In that far-off western country where friends are few and dear
Where cattle roam in thousands and the skies are always clear
We were rounding up one morning when the work was almost done
When the cattle all stampeded in a wild and maddened run
The boss's little daughter was holding on one side
She tried to check the cattle, was a wild and dangerous ride
Beneath the la**'s saddle early on that fatal morn
I'd placed a scarlet blanket, a mistake I'll always mourn
When the cattle saw that blanket it piqued their maddened brain
They bore down on the la**ie and d**h rode by again
The boss's little daughter rode the best horse all around
But he stumbled in a dog hole and threw her to the ground
The cattle thundered toward her and she surely would have died
But someone spurred his cow horse like lightning to her side
He leaned down from his pony and caught her from the ground
But the cinches broke beneath him and once more hurled them down
From the dust sprang Utah Carroll, a blanket waving gay
He led off at an angle and the cattle came his way
His task was then accomplished and the child safe on the side
He stopped to face the cattle in their wild and maddened tide
His pistol flashed like lightning and sounded loud and clear
He failed to stop the cattle but he dropped the leading steer
A thousand hooves a-pounding, a thousand slashing horns
Snuffed out the life of Utah, the bravest hero born
And on his funeral morning, I heard the preacher say
"I hope we'll all meet Utah at the round-up far away"
Then we wrapped him in a blanket sent by his little friend
It was the same red blanket that brought him to his end
In that far-off western country, where friends are few and near
There's a humble little headstone 'neath the sky that's always clear
Now the rancher's little daughter often goes to pray
For the man who died so freely to save her life that day