Old Timer

I grew up in Wyoming
In and around Jackson's hole
In the shadows of the Tetons
Where summers are hot and winters unbearably cold

But the spring and the fall
Are always as good as it gets
For over 70 years now
I'd watch the sun rise and set

I've been a cowboy
Working the round-ups in spring
I've lived in the mountains, hunted the grizzly
Trapping the rivers and streams

Always the loner
I've treasured my freedom the most
And though I never married
As a young man I might have come close

From somewhere back east
She came to the valley with a man who did her no good
He was fast with the ladies
A tin horn gambler and a cheat whenever he could

She had no friends or family
Most of the time he was gone
He died in a card game
And she found herself all alone

Alone and afraid and left unprotected
'Cause he was all that she had
Maybe I should have but I never told her
So she never knew he was bad

But I'll always remember
Standing and watching her cry
There was no one to help her
But I was determined to try

I mended her fences and fixed up her cabin
I had everything looking good, I laid by her food
And wood for the winter
Helping wherever I could

The more I was around her
The more I wanted to be
There was something about her
That brought out a good side of me

I went into town, I brought a new outfit
I got me a haircut and shave
I'd trek through the snow
For no good reason just to go by her cabin each day

I don't know about love
But I was quite taken in by it all
Till her brother came in the spring
And he took her back to St. Paul

I don't go down to Jackson
Ain't nothing there but motels and bars
Too damn many tourists, no place to hide
They'll find you wherever you are

They like to call me old timer
I am getting older I guess
But I don't like the changes
'Cause I've seen it all at its best

When my life is over
I don't want to be left in town
But up in the mountains there is a place
I've marked off my own piece of ground

High in the Tetons
Above and away from it all
From the top of old Grand
I bet on a clear day, you can see all the way to St. Paul