Colorado Trail – Collected by Carl Sandburg in his American Songbag (p. 462), with additional verses added along the way. Sung by The Weavers. SheetMusic(pdf)

Eyes like the morning star, cheeks like a rose
Laura was a pretty girl, God almighty knows

Chorus:
Weep all ye little rains, wail, winds, wail
All along, along, along the Colorado Trail

Laura was a laughing girl, joyful all the day
Laura was a lovely girl, now she's gone away

Ride all the lonely night, ride all the day
Keep that herd a'movin' on, movin' on its way

Winds comin’ down the gulch, night birds cry alarm
Wish I’d stayed in Abilene, where it’s dry and warm

Sixteen years she graced the earth, and all life was good
Now my life lies buried here, beneath the cross of wood

Colorado Trail
     A beautiful cowboy love song. All sources point to a cowboy from Duluth, MN whose name is unknown. He was brought to the hospital after being thrown and trampled by what he called "a terribly bad hoss." A surgeon, Dr. T.L. Chapman, treated the wrangler for "bones of both upper and lower legs broken, fractures of the collar bone on both sides, numerous fractures of both arms and wrists, and many scars from lacerations."
    As the unknown cowboy convalesced and his strength returned, he sang across the hospital ward in a mellowed tenor voice, and the other patients always called for more. One of the songs he sang was Colorado Trail. Dr. Chapman later remembered the tune to poet and folk singer Carl Sandburg, who included it in his collection The American Songbag. Mudcat Forum

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