When The Cimarron Was Red And On The Rise

Riding back to Texas from a ride to Abilene
With the wagon, the remuda and the crew
The Cimarron was boiling red and rising by the hour
It was suicide to push the horses through
Cotty Bill was pining by his Darling Anna Lee
He left her crying back in San Anton
A thousand times he red the note he carried in his jeans
“Cotty, darling, won’t you hurry home”
But trailing longhorn cattle is a life at wild and free
And the prairie is a puncher’s paradise
But it was dark and deadly in the spring of '83
When the Cimarron was red and on the rise
We were at the wagon playin’ cards and tellin’ lies
When he announced that he was goin’ on
We told him he was crazy, he would never make it through
But Cotty smiled and saddled up the roan
Then I made him a promise; I’d look after Anna Lee
In case he didn’t make it through the night
He turned his collar to the wind and bid us ‘adios’
And whistling Dixie he ruled out of sight
And trailing longhorn cattle is a life at wild and free
But the devil is playing hell in paradise
Cause it was dark and deadly in the spring of '83
When the Cimarron was red and on the rise
It was nearly seven days before we got across
The roan was in the shadow of a hill
He was skinned from head to toe and covered up with mud
But there was not a sing of Cotty Bill
Oh, I guess we knew that he was gone when we looked anyhow
The road for a mile and searched on either side
We combed the brush and dragged our ropes in every waterhole
But Cotty Bill had taken his last ride
And I kept my promise and I married Anna Lee
And the boy we’re raising has his daddy’s eyes
Someday I’ll tell him more about the spring of ‘83
When the Cimarron was red and on the rise
Cause it was dark and deadly in the spring of '83
When the Cimarron was red and on the rise
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