Mind the Northwest homestead boom, twenty-odd years back,
When Dakota stuck her nose above the waves o' fame?
I was pottin' coyotes from a Brule County shack,
Burnin' hay an' eatin' pork an' holdin' down my claim.
Not a strictly stirrin' life; quite a lot less gay
Than workin' in a grave-yard, a-plantin' of remains.
Notion hit me Christmas time to take a holiday;
Roped the cayuse, strapped my guns, an' struck across the plains.
Galloped into Kimball 'long 'bout milkin' time,
Wind a-whoopin' from the North, cold as billy hell—