Dying Cowgirl [Version (a)]:

I staked my claim out in the west
When I was just a boy
I was out there all alone
No happiness, no joy
I had to fight the Indians
As o'er the plains they roamed
Old Paint and I, we just got by
And called that place our home

I started rassling cattle
Just rounding up the strays
In the saddle all the time
Riding night and day
The stars, I always trusted
To guide me o'er the plains
And bring me back to my shack
Before strays home again

I rode out from my camp one night
A storm was raging high
The sound of force caught my ear
I heard a human cry
I raised up in my saddle
And turned old Paint around
I saw a dying cowgirl there
Lying on the ground

I knelt beside that dying girl
And tried to say a prayer
I hope that God with all his love
Would hear me pleading there
I saw her blue eyes open
She smiled at me so sweet
And said that she would wait for me
Up where cowhands meet

I never will forget her face
She seemed to be so brave
She lost her life out there at night
For a stray she tried to save
And now she sleeps out yonder
Upon that lonely range
Where all the stars watch over her
'Til we meet again