Classic Poem

Broncho Dan halts midway of the stream,
Sucking up the water that goes tugging at his knees;
High noon and dry noon,--to-day it doesn't seem
As if the country ever knew the blessing of a breeze.
A torn felt hat with the brim cockled up,
A dip from the saddle--there you are--
It's the brew of old Snake River in a cowboy's drinking-cup--
At the ford of Deadman's Bar.

"Now for a toast, a health before we go,--
A health to the life that makes living worth a try;
A long drink, a deep drink, it's bumpers, Dan, you know;
No heel-taps now, old pony, you must drink the river dry!
Here's to her then,--every sunrise knows her name,
I've given it away to every star;
Cold water in a hat! Pretty tough, but what of that?--
It's the best--at Deadman's Bar.

"Where Summer camps all the year by the sea,
By the broad Pacific where your widened waters pour,
Old Snake River, take a message down for me,
Tell the waves that sing to her along the Southern Shore;
Say that I'm a-rustling, though the trail that leads to wealth
Is mighty hard to find and dim and far,
But tell her that I love her, and say I drank her health
To-day at Deadman's Bar.