I've taken toll from ev'ry stream that held a furry prize, 



But now my traps are rustin' in the sun; 



Where once the broad, free ranges, wild, unbroken, met my 

 eyes, 



Their acres have been civilized and won. 

 The deer have left the bottom-lands; the antelope the plain, 



And the howlin' of the wolf no more I hear, 

 But the busy sounds of commerce warn me of an alien reign, 



As the saw and hammer echo in my ear. 



I've lived to see the prairie soil a-sproutin' schools and stores, 



And wire fences stretch on ev'ry hand; 

 I've seen the nesters crowdin' in from distant foreign shores, 



And the hated railroads creep across the land. 

 My heart has burned within me, and my eyes have misty 

 grown, 



As Progress came, unbidden, to my shack. 

 My streams have all been harnessed and my conquest over- 

 thrown, 



And I've been pushed aside and crowded back. 



I've seen men come with manners and with customs new and 

 strange, 



To take the land which I have fought to hold; 

 I've watched the white-topped wagons joltin' on across the 

 range 



With those who sought to lure the hidden gold, 

 i ve seen the red man vanquished and the buffalo depart. 



And cowmen take the land which they possessed, 

 And now there's somethin' tuggin' and a-pullin' at my heart, 



And biddin' me move onward to'rds the West. 



30 



