When The Cimarron Was Red And On The Rise (album Version) - Red Steagall

Riding back to Texas

From a drive 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 sign 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