Rangefire

We were trailin' cattle down the blue fork to the

river

One hot, dry, sunny August afternoon

It hadn't rained for days and the heat was

unforgivin'

The cattle needed water soon

We heard the horses whinny at a new scent on the air

It came rollin' off the sagebrush on the ridge

It was a ghostly, driftin', burnin' breath of death

that made us rein up there

And see flames engulf the Curtis River Bridge

CHORUS:

And we yelled, "Ride for the river, boys!

Run for your lives!

Stampede these cattle, or leave 'em here to die

There's hellfire runnin' on the mercy of the wind

So ride like you will never ride again."

The canyon roared like thunder as we crashed down

through the pines

A half a hundred cows and all our crew

As the flames ate up the meadow we'd left just a mile

behind

We knew that there was nothin' we could do

But break for that blue river at the bottom of the

draw

And pray the wind was slower than our horses

It was each man for himself, spurrin' flanks 'til they

were raw

Headin' hell-for-leather down each of their courses

CHORUS

Like a blessing, we all whooped and crashed and

splashed into the water

As the smoke filled up the canyon above

And through the haze we counted off and with every man

allotted

We turned to see what is become what was

A whole canyon's worth of pasture gone in seconds of

the wind

Now only ashes scar what little grass remains

A blistered, smokin' eyesore of the beauty that had

been

Too long without the healin' summer rain

CHORUS

"Ride, or you may never ride again."