Play song 4:28
Coyotes
by Bob McDill, sung by Don Edwards
Album: Best of Don Edwards
Artist biography
Was a cowboy I knew in south Texas,
His face was burnt deep by the sun,
Part history, part sage, part mesquit,
He was there when Poncho Villa was young.
And he'd tell you a tale of the old days,
When the country was wild all around,
Sit out under the stars of the Milky Way,
And listen while the coyotes howl.
And they go... hoo yip hoo yip hoo
hoodi hoo di yip hoo di yip hoo
hoo yip hoo yip hoo
hoo di hoo di yip hoo di yip hoo
Now the long horns are gone, A particular breed of cattle with very long horns
And the drovers are gone, Drovers in this case refers to the cowboys who drove the cattle across the prairies to the rail heads
The Comanches are gone,
And the outlaws are gone,
Geronimo is gone,
And Sam Bass is gone, Outlaw in the old west, (see note 1 below)
And the lion is gone,
And the red wolf is gone. Read more about the endangered red wolf
Well he cursed all the roads and the oil men,
And he cursed the automobile,
Said this is no place for an hombre like I am,
In this new world of asphalt and steel.
Then he'd look off some place in the distance,
At something only he could see,
He'd say all that's left now of the old days,
Those damned old coyotes and me.
And they go hoo yip hoo yip hoo
hoodi hoo di yip hoo di yip hoo
hoo yip hoo yip hoo
hoo di hoo di yip hoo di yip hoo
Now the long horns are gone,
And the drovers are gone
The Comanches are gone
And the outlaws are gone,
Now Quantro is gone, Read more about Quantrill W
Stan Watie is gone, American Indian, Civil War Confederate (see note 2 below)
And lion is gone,
And the red wolf is gone.
One morning they searched his adobe,
He disappeared without even a word,
But that night as the moon crossed the mountain,
One more coyote was heard.
And he'd go, hoo yip hoo yip hoo
hoodi hoo di yip hoo di yip hoo
hoo yip hoo yip hoo
hoo di hoo di yip hoo di yip hoo
hoo yip hoo yip hoo
hoodi hoo di yip hoo di yip hoo
hoo yip hoo yip hoo
hoo di hoo di yip hoo di yip hoo
Notes:
1) Sam Bass (borrowed from a page at this site)
Bass was born on July 21, 1851 near Mitchell, Indiana. His mother, Jane, died in 1861. His father died in 1864. He had two brothers and four sisters. All were raised by their maternal uncle David L. Sheeks. Sam hated school but loved horses, hunting, and cards. He ran away from home about 1869.
He arrived at Denton County, Texas, where he worked as a teamster, but soon tired of it. He quit to become owner of a one-man racing stable. The jockey was a thin black man named Charlie Tucker. He won many races. Bass's first brush with the law was over a horse racing dispute. He won.
From there he went on to San Antonio, where he formed a partnership with Joel Collins, a bartender. The two bought some cattle and drove them north, probably to Kansas, where they sold them. From there, they went on to Deadwood, South Dakota. They tried freighting but it wasn't profitable. So the two formed a gang. The gang consisted of Tom Nixon, Bill Potts, Jim Berry, Jack Davis, and Robert "Little Reddy" McKimie. McKimie was kicked out of the gang after their first robbery, in which he shot and killed the driver. They held up the Deadwood stage seven times, but none of them yielded much. So they decided to try their hand at train robbery.
On September 19, 1877, they robbed the Union Pacific train at Big Springs, Nebraska for $60,000. Barry and Nixon went to Missouri where Berry was later killed. Nixon fled to Canada and was never heard from again. Collins and Potts were shot to death in an ambush at Buffalo Station, Kansas. Davis fled to New Orleans and Bass went back to Texas.
Bass arrived in Denton, Texas on November 1, 1877. Bass organized another gang there including Frank "Blockey" Jackson, Seaborn Barnes, and others. He, Jackson and Tom Spotswood held up a train at Allen, Texas, on February 22, 1878. Spotswood later was captured and identified. Captain Junius Peak was summoned to Austin by the governor to capture or kill Bass and his gang. He was a good choice since he was a civil war veteran. He was also a law officer and part of the group that ended rustling in Billy the Kid's Land in New Mexico. Also after Bass, was U.S. Marshal Stillwell Russell, Sheriff Bill Everheart's posse from Grayson County, and Sheriff Eagan's posse from Denton County.
When Bass was ready to hold up the Texas and Pacific Railroad the second time, volunteers flocked in. Sam Pipes, Albert Heindon, William Collins, and William Scott along with nine others joined the gang. This was the first time any of the gang had been hurt. Barnes had four gunshot wounds. One man died. Mesquite was Bass's last train robbery. Posses were after them all over the place. They battled each other across the county. At Salt Creek, another gang member was killed by Peak's rangers.
Jim Murphy cut a deal to save him and his father, in exchange for leading the law to the gang. He set up an ambush at Round Rock, where they would "Rob" the Williamson County Bank. On July 19, 1878, Bass, Barnes, Jackson, and Murphy scouted the area before the actual robbery. They bought some tobacco at Henry Koppel's store, which did not go unnoticed by Williamson County Deputy Sheriff Caige Grimes. When Grimes approached the three, he was shot and killed. more shots were fired and another deputy named Moore and Bass were both wounded. Barnes, Jackson, and Bass quickly mounted their horses, firing at Major Jones, Dick Ware, and a man named Tubbs. Ware shot Barnes as he mounted his horse. As they galloped away, Bass was shot again in the back by a ranger named George Herold. Bass later was found by the authorities while Jackson escaped. They took him into custody where he died from his wounds the next day, on July 21, 1878, at just 27 years old.
In 1879, his sister came to mark his grave with a tombstone. Pieces of the stone and Seve's stone were taken by souvenir hunters until there was no more stone. In the 1920's, S. E. Loving, a local Monument maker placed a concrete slab over both graves.
2) Stan Watee:
Stan Watee was an Indian Confederate of the Cherokee Mounted Rifles. The Cherokees remained neutral at the beginning of the war until the Confederate victory at Wilson's creek in Missouri. Watie had a large following of Cherokees as its minority leader and he convinced the native Americans to join the Confederate cause. He was known as a daring cavalry leader and employed hit-and-run tactics against the Federals and against pro-Union Indians in the territory. General Watie's lightening raids, brave assaults in the face of overwhelming odds and brilliant guerrilla successes became known to high Confederate command. Watie was the last Confederate general to surrender his command - one month after the war was over. Time Line - June, 1865
The 1st Cherokee Mounted Rifles commanded by Watie had a battle flag which had 11 white stars in a circle with 5 red stars inside. These represented the Indian Tribes, Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Seminole.
|
|
