My dearest mother, I know it's been years Since I wrote you a letter to quiet your fears For the fate of your son on the lawless frontier And to ask if you're well there in Richmond When I came west at the end of the war A man could get wealthy digging for ore So I worked on a mining claim two years and four But I never got much for my trouble Tell the girls of the county to pin up their hair Start making the pretty gowns they want to wear To the ball that we'll throw just as soon as I'm there For I want to come back home to Richmond I started back home when my money ran short So I stopped in Dakota at a calvary fort I'm employed as a muleskinner and I report To Custer of the 7th division We march in the morning on the Cheyenne and Sioux But we won't be out long, a month maybe two And upon our return I will come back to you And the beautiful hills around Richmond So tell the girls of the county to pin up their hair Start making the pretty gowns they want to wear To the ball that we'll throw just as soon as I'm there For I want to come back home to Richmond To the ball that we'll throw just as soon as I'm there For I want to come back home to Richmond