Gibbonsville Gold

My name is Bill Harlan. I'm a God fearin' man

From the lost rebel army, a Tennessee Calvary man

From Shilo to Nashville we made our last stand

When the battles were over, everythin' we had was gone with the wind

But I still had my family and a hope and a dream

And I heard of gold fever and the Rocky Mountain streams

So we took what we had and some gold diggin' gear

And we headed for a new life on the Northwest frontier

Montana Territory where the winters are cold

The lands full of game and the creeks are full of gold

Just west of the mountains is a town they call Gibbonsville

You can sure get gold fever, you can damn sure get killed

But I staked my claims, I was rarin' to go

I've made up my mind and I set out to find the Gibbonsville (D)gold

Oh, you find just a little, just enough to get by

Aww, you dig and you dig, and you start wonderin' why

There's a whole lot more down there, I don't have to be told

I've made up my mind and I'm gonna find that Gibbonsville gold

Every morning at daylight with a pick and a pan

Keep an eye out for the blackfeet. Keep a rifle near hand

Back shooters and grizzlies, better stay alert all the time

'Cause the only law here in this wild country is the gun and the knife

In the year of our Lord, eighteen sixty-nine

I lost my dear son to a cave-in at the mine

Yes I know he's gone please God rest his soul

So many have died trying to find this damned Gibbonsville gold

Yeah, you find just a little, just enough to get by

Aww, you dig and you dig, and you start wonderin' why

Then someone finds a nugget, just as big as your thumb

And we all go hard at it from sun until sun

Yeah I got to find it, that main mother load

I've made up my mind and I swear to find that Gibbonsville gold

There's a whole lot more down there, my share of that main mother load

I've made up my mind and I swear to find the Gibbonsville gold --- fade