Brushy Bill Roberts

(died 1950)

Brushy Bill Roberts was born quite a long time ago;
Eighteen Eighty-Eight, he rode the Cheyenne Rodeo;
He even trained horses in Argentina, he said;
When he rode for the Pinkertons he left a few rustlers dead.

Brushy Bill Roberts had twenty-six wounds that had healed,
Scars from the horses, and bullets, and knives, he revealed;
His real name and date of his birth are a mystery still,
But he used to break mustangs and broncos for sure, Brushy Bill.

Brushy Bill Roberts went off to a faraway shore,
In the Shetland Islands, roping ponies, Eighteen-Ninety Four,
And down there in Cuba, he was a Roosevelt Rough Rider too,
And he smuggled horses to help Poncho Villa, it s true.

He went crazy, there at the end&
In 1950& he even surrendered,
To the governor of New Mexico&
Asking for a pardon for his crimes.
It seemed that all those years he d been
Keeping it hid&
Yes, he even confessed he was& really&
Billy the Kid!
They laughed at Brushy Bill and three weeks
Later he died&

Brushy Bill Roberts was born quite a long time ago,
They still tell his legend way down in old New Mexico,
And he s still in the saddle like a ghost in a rodeo dream.
You see, sometimes those cowboys are quite a bit more than they seem.
1985