The Cattle Thief

High in the north
Under the mountains' gaze
Two bodies still hand
It was there by the blood fevered hands of men
She they called the cattle thief was slain

50 men in black coats
Ride in from the south
It is not justice that fills their hearts
Or foams at their mouths

The queen of the mavericks
Daughter of the plains
Her corpse hangs for rumor
Her corpse hangs for company aims

This land bestowed upon the barons
Every grass every straw
We will draw lines across the open range
By order of law

A reckoning comes
From those branded thieves
Driven to desperation
And disparate means

Sound out the bells of war
Within the county line
Here in the wake of the thaw
In a young nation blind

It's war they've waged
It's blood they crave
They come bringing fire
They come bringing siege
A note on the corpse of the peoples' men
Thieves beware, it would read

Beware!
The gods of men are he who holds
The gunpowder and the gold
Beware!
The company kills for company men
If you should find your name upon their list

But beware thee
Oh men of the company
Beware the ghost of cattle kate
Beware what you create

They're riding out
Through the dusk, to the north
They bring menacing

Blind in rage
And endless violence
The lost men ride
Into the fray

Fifty men rode in
Under promise of pay
Seventy names on a list
Fifty dollars each name

Oh thee men of the association
Who murdered in profits name
Absolved by your own
You carry on in prosperity
Devoid of shame

But there remains
A shadow on the range
The ghost of the cattle thief
Whispers her claim

I heard you seen her now
A dream or not she'll wander
The county round
Until the end

You sure that what you fear is gone?
You blindly hope

I heard you crawl from her now
Endlessly
You are never alone