Marty Robbins - Little joe the wrangler

^DLittle Joe, The Wrangler, will ^Gwrangle nevermore His ^Ddays with the roundup, they are ^A7o'er Was a ^Dyear ago last April, when he ^Grode into our camp Just a ^Dlittle Texas ^A7stray and nothin' ^Dmore. Was late in the ev'nin', when he ^Grode into our camp On a ^Dlittle Texas pony, he called ^A7Chaw With his ^Dbrogan shoes and overalls, a ^Gtougher lookin' kid You ^Dnever in your ^A7life before, had ^Dsaw.

His ^Gsaddle was a Texas 'kack' built ^Dmany years ago An O.K. spur on one foot, lightly ^A7swung With his ^Dpack rolled in a cotton sack, so ^Gloosely tied behind And a ^Dcanteen from his ^A7saddle horn, was ^Dslung.

His ^Dnew ma whipped him every day or ^A7two So he ^Dsaddled up old Chaw one night and ^G"lit a shuck" this way He ^Dsaid he'd try to ^A7paddle his own can- ^A7oe. He'd ^Gsaid if we would give him work, he'd ^Ddo the best he could Tho' he didn't know straight up, about a ^A7cow So the ^DBoss, he cut him out a mount and ^Gkindly put him on He ^Dsorta liked this ^A7little kid, some- ^Dhow.

He learned to wrangle horses and ^Glearned to know them all And ^Dget them in at daybreak, if he ^A7could And to ^Dtrail the old chuck wagon and ^Galways hitch the team And ^Dhelp the "cookie" ^A7ev'nin's - rustle ^Dwood. We had ^Ghardly reached the Pecos, the ^Dweather it was fine We were camped down on the south side, in a ^A7draw When a ^D'Norther' commenced blowin' and we ^Gdoubled up our guard It took ^Dev'ryone of ^A7us, to hold them ^Din.

Little Joe, The Wrangler, was ^Gcalled out with the rest Scarcely ^Dhad the little fellow reached the ^A7herd When the ^Dcattle, they stampeded, like a ^Ghail storm on, they fled And ^Dev'ryone was ^A7ridin' for the ^Dlead. A- ^Gmid the streaks of lightnin', there was ^Done horse up ahead He was tryin' to catch the leader in their ^A7speed It was ^DLittle Joe, The Wrangler, with a ^Gslicker o'er his head He was ^Dridin' old Blue ^A7Rocket in the ^Dlead.

At last, we got them millin' and ^Gkinda quieted down And the ^Dextra guards, back to the wagon, ^A7went But ^Dthere was one a-missin', you could ^Gsee it, at a glance Was our ^Dlittle Texas ^A7stray, poor wrangler ^DJoe. Next ^Gmornin', just at daybreak, we ^Dfound where Rocket fell Down in a washout, twenty feet be- ^A7low Be- ^Dneath his horse, his life was gone, his ^Gspur had rung its knell Was our ^Dlittle Texas ^A7stray, poor wrangler ^DJoe.