Back Then They Called Us Rustlers

The gunfighters came up from Texas; they arrived on the railroad train;
The Cattlemen s Association was bound to control the range.

They had a sheet of paper, a list of names, of men they had to kill;
And they left some cowboy s bodies in the Wyoming April chill.

Back then they called us rustlers, cause we fought for our own piece of land,
Back then they called us rustlers, cause now and then we changed a brand.

They had the money, and they owned the Governor,
Back in the year of Ninety-Two, in the Johnson County War.

In a cold Wyoming November, we lost our three-year old boy,
And my woman she didn t say nothing, as she packed up for Illinois.

And you wouldn t believe it to see me now: I work for the biggest ranch in the state,
And the owner, he s my very best friend we overcame our range-war hate.

Back then he d have called me a rustler, cause I fought for my own piece of land,
Back then he d have called me a rustler now and then I changed one or his brands:
With a .44-40 in my hand&
1987