The Banks of the Musselshell

I stare out every evening at the distant Northern Star
It leads us ever northwards, and it tells us that we are
Lost below the Yellowstone in a land unknown to me
Ten thousand miles from my loved ones and my home across the sea

We travel through an empty land, the benches are all strewn
With bison bones that shine ghost-white with the rising of the moon
And the red wolf howls and answer, as I try to sing on guard
Indentured to these Texans, in a land so wild and hard

When I hired on to Bill Ducharm in the heat of the Texas sun
I was unaware of his darker side, his swiftness with a gun
But I had made a solemn promise, oh, I'd ride with him through hell
Deliver the herd to the ends of the earth or the mouth of the Mussel-shell

Well, I just turned about 16 when we hit that first cowtown
I drank my first strong liquor, oh, and the women spun me 'round
But of all the barroom angels with their soft forbidden charms
I stuck on blue-eyed Annie, who belonged to Bill Ducharm

And the boy became a man that night in Annie's arms
Oh, Annie cried and begged me, "Beware of Bill Ducharm"

We left that Texas cowtown, we pointed the big herd North
But the first night when the moon was down, I rode back to Old Fort Worth
They were closin' down the barroom, oh, they were rollin' up the floor
My heart was in my mouth, as I knocked on Annie's door

And the boy became a man that night in Annie's arms
Oh, Annie cried and begged me, "Beware of Bill Ducharm"

Oh, Bill Ducharm had one bad eye, and his face was a devilish red
The result of a bygone prairie fire, when he'd crawled back from the dead
And every night in dreams
As I rolled in Annie's arms
I had to wake to face old Satan, in the guise of Bill Ducharm

And each night 'cross the campfire, I'd face that one bad eye
Did he know that I'd betrayed him? Had my hour come to die?
One promise he made true, oh, we rolled with him through hell
We deliver the herd to the ends of the earth and the mouth of the Mussel-shell

And the boy became a man that night in Annie's arms
Oh, Annie cried and begged me, "Beware of Bill Ducharm"

And as we near the Yellowstone, the snow begins to fall
And soon this dreadful enterprise shall be ending for us all
It's then I'll need fast horses, oh, to fly to Annie's arms
And stay one jump ahead of the guns of Bill Ducharm

And the boy became a man that night in Annie's arms
Oh, Annie cried and begged me, "Beware of Bill Ducharm"

Oh, the boy became a man that night in Annie's arms
Annie cried and begged me, "Beware of Bill Ducharm"