Claude Dallas Ian Tyson
Song: Claude Dallas
Sung by: Ian Tyson
CD: Cowboyography
Written by: Ian Tyson/Tom Russell
Transcribed by: M. Lawrence
Capo 2nd Fret
Intro: Am G Dm F
1.I[Am]n a land the Spanish once had called the Northern Mystery[G]
Where rivers [Dm]run and disappear And the Mustang still lives free[F]
By the Devilâ[Am]s wash and the coyote hole In the wild Owyee Range[G]
[Dm] [F]
[Am]Somewhere in the sage tonight The wind calls out his name Aye Aye Aye
2.Come gather round me buckaroos And a story I will tell[G]
ÎBout the fugitiv[Dm]e Claude Dallas Who just broke out of jai[Am]l
You might think this tale is history From before the West was won[G]
But the events[Dm] that Iâll describe took place in 1981[Am]
3. He was born out in Virginia Left home when school was th[G]rough
In the desert[Dm]s of Nevada He became a buckar[Am]oo
He learned the ways of cattle He learned to sit a hors[G]e
And he always p[Dm]acked a pistol And he practiced deadly force[Am]
Chorus 1:
Then Claude[C] he became a trapper He dreamed of the bygone days[G]
He studi[Dm]ed bobcat logic In the wild and silent [F]ways
In the bloo[C]dy runs near paradise In the monitors down south[G]
[Dm] [F]
[Am]Trapping cats and coyotes Living hand and mouth Aye Aye Aye
4. Then Claude took to living all alone Out many miles from town
A friend Jim Stevens brought supplies And he stayed to hang around
That day two wardens Pogue and Elms Drove in to check Claude out
They were seeking violations And to see what Claudeâs about
5. Now Claude he had hung some venison He had a bobcat pelt or two
Pogue claimed they were out of season He says, ãDallas youâre all throughä
But Dallas would not leave his camp He refused to go to town
As the wind howled through the bull camp They stared each other down
Chorus 2.
Itâs hard to say what happened next Perhaps weâll never know
They were going to take Claude into jail And heâd vowed heâd never go
Jim Stevens heard the gunfire And when he turned around
Bill Pogue was fallinâ backwards Conley Elms he fell face down Aye Aye Aye
6. Jim Stevens walked on over There was a gun near Bill Pogueâs hand
Itâs hard to say whoâd drawn his first But Claude had made his stand
Claude said, ãIâm justified Jim· They were going to cut me down·
A manâs got a right to hang some meat When heâs livinâ this far from townä
7. It took 18 men and 15 months To finally run Claude down
In the sage outside paradise They drove him to the ground
Convicted up in Idaho Manslaughter by decree
Thirty years at maximum But soon Claude would break free
Chorus 3.
Thereâs two sides to this story There may be no right or wrong
There may be no right or wrong The lawmen and the renegade
Have graced a thousand songs So the story is an old one
Conclusionâs hard to draw But Claudeâs out in the sage tonight
He may be the last outlaw Aye Aye Aye
Repeat 1st verse
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