Am   G    Dm    F

  Am                                       G
1. In a land the Spanish once had called the Northern Mystery
Dm                                           F
Where rivers run and disappear  And the Mustang  still lives free
Am                                              G
By the Devil's wash and the coyote hole  In the wild Owyee Range
Dm                                 F                               Am
Somewhere in the sage tonight  The wind calls out his name Aye Aye Aye

   Am                              G
2. Come gather round me buckaroos  And a story I will tell
Dm                               F
Bout the fugitive Claude Dallas  Who just broke out of jail
Am                                    G
You might think this tale is history  From before the West was won
Dm                                  F               Am
But the events that I'll describe took place in 1981

   Am                            G
3. He was born out in Virginia  Left home when school was through
Dm                        F
In the deserts of Nevada  He became a buckaroo
Am                                   G
He learned the ways of cattle  He learned to sit a horse
Dm                                     F                    Am
And he always packed a pistol  And he practiced deadly force

[Chorus 1]
C                                     G
Then Claude he became a trapper  He dreamed of the bygone days
        Dm                          F
He studied bobcat logic  In the wild and silent ways
C                                         G
In the bloody runs near paradise  In the monitors down south
Dm                         F                          Am
Trapping cats and coyotes  Living hand and mouth Aye Aye Aye

4.
Am                                            G
Then Claude took to living all alone  Out many miles from town
Dm                                           F
A friend Jim Stevens brought supplies  And he stayed to hang around
Am                                              G
That day two wardens Pogue and Elms  Drove in to check Claude out
Dm                                  F                      Am
They were seeking violations  And to see what Claude's about

5.
Am                                           G
Now Claude he had hung some venison  He had a bobcat pelt or two
Dm                                             F
Pogue claimed they were out of season  He said "Dallas you're all thru."
Am                                     G
But Dallas would not leave his camp  He refused to go to town
Dm                                            F                     Am
As the wind howled through the bull camp  They stared each other down

6.
Am                                          G
It's hard to say what happened next  Perhaps we'll never know
Dm                                              F
They were going to take Claude into jail  And he vowed he'd never go
Am                                        G
Jim Stevens heard the gunfire  And when he turned around
Dm                                           F                          Am
Bill Pogue was fallin' backwards, Conley Elms he fell face down Aye Aye Aye

[Chorus 2]
C                                      G
Jim Stevens walked on over  There was a gun near Bill Pogue's hand
Dm                                         F
It?s hard to say who?d drawn his first  But Claude had made his stand
C                                          G
Claude said, ?I?m justified Jim?  They were gonna gun me down,
Dm
And a man's got a right to hang some meat.
F                                 Am
When he?s livin? this far from town.

7.
Am                              G
It took 18 men and 15 months  To finally run Claude down
Dm                                F
In the sage outside paradise  They drove him to the ground
Am                                 G
Convicted up in Idaho  Manslaughter by decree
Dm                               F                       Am
Thirty years at maximum  But soon Claude would break free

[Chorus 3]
C                                         G
There's two sides to this story  There may be no right or wrong
                                Dm
There may be no right or wrong  The lawmen and the renegade
F                             C
Have graced a thousand songs  The story is an old one
G                             Dm
Conclusion's hard to draw  But Claude's out in the sage tonight
F                                   Am
He may be the last outlaw Aye Aye Aye

[Repeat 1st verse] (2/3 speed)
Am                                       G
1.In a land the Spanish once had called the Northern Mystery
Dm                                           F
Where rivers run and disappear  And the Mustang  still lives free
Am                                              G
By the Devil's wash and the coyote hole  In the wild Owyee Range
Dm                                 F                               Am
Somewhere in the sage tonight  The wind calls out his name Aye Aye Aye