Little Joe the Wrangler, wrangle never more His days the remuda, they're all done It was long last April, he rode into our camp a little Texas stray and all alone
It was late in the evening when he rode into our camp On a little old brown he called Shaw In his Brogan shoes and coveralls a harder kid You in your life have seen before
His was a southern kack built many years ago An OK spur on one foot hung With his bed roll in a cotton sack, was loosely behind And a canteen from the horn he'd slung
he had to leave his home because his pa had married twice His new ma beat him day or two So he saddled up old Shaw one night and lit a this way Thought he'd try and now his own canoe
Said he'd try to do the best he could if we'd give him work Though he didn't know up about a cow So the boss he cut him out a and kinda put him on And we knew he liked our little somehow
Well, he taught him how to herd the horses, learned to 'em all And to get 'em in by if he could And to follow the chuck and to always hitch the team And to help the carsonaro wood
We had to red river and the weather it was fine We were camped down on the south side in a a norther started blowin', we called the extra guard 'Cause it took all hands to the cattle in
Now Joe the Wrangler was called out with all the rest And had the kid got to the herd When the cattle they like a hailstorm, on they flew With all of us a for the lead
Between the streaks of lightnin' we could see a horse It was Joe the Wrangler in the lead He was riding old Blue Rocket with a o'er his head He was trying to check the leaders in their
We finally got 'em and they sort of quieted down The guard back to the camp did go All but one of them was missing and we all knew at a T'was our little Texas stray boy Joe
We found him there at sun up where old Blue fell In a washout some twenty below Beneath his horse smashed to a pulp, his had rung the knell For our little Texas stray boy Joe
Now Little Joe the Wrangler, wrangle never more His days the remuda, they're all done It was long about last he rode into our camp a little Texas stray and all alone