Dm Am
[Verse 1]
G
In a land the Spanish once had called the Northern Mystery
D F
Where rivers run and disappear and the mustang still lives free
C G
By the Devil’s wash and the coyote hole in the wild Owyhee Range
D F
Somewhere in the sage tonight, the wind calls out his name
Am
Ay-yi-yi
[Verse 2]
G
Come gather round me buckaroos, a story I will tell
Em7 Am
Of the fugitive Claude Dallas, who just broke out of jail
G
You may think this tale is a history, from before the West was won
Em7 Am
But the events that I’ll describe took place in nineteen eighty-one
[Verse 3]
G
He was born out in Virginia, left home when school was through
Em7 Am
In the deserts of Nevada, he became a buckaroo
G
He learned the ways of cattle, he learned to sit a horse
Em7 Am
He always packed a pistol and he practiced deadly force
[Verse 4]
C G
And then Claude became a trapper and he dreamt of the bygone days
D F
And he studied bobcat logic and the wild and silent ways
C G
In the bloody runs near Paradise and the monitors down south
D F
Trapping cats and coytes and living hand to mouth
Am
Ay-yi-yi
[Verse 5]
G
Then Claude took to living all alone, out many miles from town
Em7 Am
A friend, Jim Stevens, brought supplies and he stayed to hang around
G
That day two wardens, Pogue and Elms, drove in to check Claude out
Em7 Am
They were seeking violations and to see what Claude's about
[Verse 6]
G
Now Claude had hung some venison, he had a bobcat pelt or two
Em7 Am
Pogue claimed they were out of season, he said, "Dallas, you're all through"
G
But Dallas would not leave his camp, he refused to go to town
Em7 Am
As the wind howled through the bull-camp they stared each other down
[Verse 7]
C G
It's hard to say what happened next, perhaps we'll never know
D F
They were gonna take Claude in to jail, and he vowed he'd never go
C G
Jim Stevens heard the gunshot and when he turned around
D F
Bill Pogue was falling backwards, Conley Elms, he fell face down
Am
Ay-yi-yi
[Instrumental]
Am G Em7 Am G Am G Em7 Am Em7 Am
[Verse 8]
G
Jim Stevens walked on over, there was a gun near Bill Pogue's hand
Em7 Am
It's hard to say who'd drawn his first, but Claude had made his stand
G
Claude said, "I'm justified Jim, they were gonna gun me down
Em7 Am
And a man's got a right to hang some meat when he's living this far from town"
[Verse 9]
G
It took eighteen men and fifteen months to finally hunt Claude down
Em7 Am
In the sage outside of Paradise, they ran him to the ground
G Em
Convicted up in Idaho, manslaughter by decree
Am
Twenty years in maximum, but soon Claude would break free
[Verse 10]
C G
There's two sides two the story, there may be no right or wrong
D F
The lawman and the renegade have graced a thousand songs
C G
The story is an old one, a conclusion's hard to draw
D F
But Claude's out in the sage tonight, he may be the last outlaw
Am
Ay-yi-yi
[Verse 11]
G
In a land the Spanish once had called the Northern Mystery
D F
Where rivers run and disappear and the mustang still lives free
C G
By the Devil’s wash and the coyote hole in the wild Owyhee Range
D F
Somewhere in the sage tonight, the wind calls out his name
Am
Ay-yi-yi
