Cowboy Poetry: "Ode to a Faithful Partner"

(Written in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1952)

You are speckled now with rust, but you've helped a cause that's just,
And old Samuel would be proud of you today.
For a man of skill was he, back in 1873,
Where he sent the "Hawg-leg" to the West to stay.

There's a story long an' proud, of a gun that never bowed
To a pistol, foreign-made or otherwise.
Now, your "champeen" days are done, but, you rugged son-of-a-gun,
You've set up a record which don't need no lies.

Be they red men, black, or white; were they wrong or were they right;
When they gripped your walnut butt, they fought well-armed.
You have swung at Hickock's side, you were there when Custer died,
And it weren't no fault or your'n if they were harmed.

You've beheaded willow grouse; been called upon to kill a mouse;
And with your help, I've dined right well on goose.
Where I've rode, you've been along, and I always felt so strong
That I'd argue with a grizzly or a moose.

For you meant it when you spoke; and it wasn't any joke
To the varmint who had raised when I stood pat,
Or the gambler who had won, and proved crooked when 'twas done,
For his "hide-out" couldn't start to back up that!

Someday we're gonna part, but I'll say, with all my heart,
That you have proved the truest friend I ever knew.
Through the sandstorm and the blizzard, 'gainst the snake or Gila lizard,
We have fought and won, but now we're nearly through.

We preferred a rugged life, and we had our share of strife,
Which was what we really wanted after all.
So 'til Gabriel sounds his horn, we'll be ready, every morn
To enjoy each lively fracas 'till we fall.

Lou Jonas