Ned LeDoux - Johnson County War lyrics

Headed for Wyoming in 1882 A woman, a team and a wagon gonna make our dreams come true Settled in the foothills of the Bighorn mountain slopes Life was sweet, we lived on the meat of the deer and the antelope We cut house logs up on the mountain, with the team we hauled ’em down Peeled ’em and we stacked ’em up, piles in bottom ground Traded for some cattle, turned them out on the open range Skies were blue but we never knew how things were gonna change Old Powder River, you’re muddy and you’re wide How many men have died along your shores When you brand a man a rustler, he’s gotta take a side There’s no middle ground in this Johnson County War Well the neighbors stopped by yesterday while I was outside chopping wood They filled me in on the local news, there ain’t none of it that sounded good Said there’d been some cattle stealing, by some no count outlaw band We’d all been branded rustlers by the big ranchers of this land So it was us against the cattle men and the years just made it worse First the drought and then the tough winter, Johnson County been dealt a curse Then there came the story about the two dry [?] tax Ranger Jones and John Tisdale, both shot in the back Oh, Powder River, you’re muddy and you’re wide How many men have died along your shores When you brand a man a rustler, he’s gotta take a side There’s no middle ground in this Johnson County War Then last night at supper time, well, a rider stopped by chance He said the cattle men, their hired guns, just burned the Kaycee ranch Two men had died this morning, shot down in the snow Now the vigilante army was on the march to Buffalo Well, the county was in an uproar and every man saddled up to ride They caught the cattle men at the TA ranch and surrounded all four sides They hailed the house with bullets, swore they were gonna pay Then the cavalry came from across the plains, once again they saved the day Well, they marched them off to Cheyenne, no one went to jail The cattle men were all turned loose and their hired guns hit the trail And I guess the only justice, wasn’t much to say the least Last winter me and mine ate mighty fine on the cattle baron’s beef Old Powder River, you’re muddy and you’re wide How many men have died along your shores When you brand a man a rustler, he’s gotta take a side There’s no middle ground in this Johnson County War There’s no middle ground in this Johnson County War