Ride On, Walk On

Deep in the heart of the Indian nation was a gathering of chiefs

The Great Plain tribes would ban together for protection and peace

Until the union army cut them down in the winter of 1864

The Sand Creek massacre of Black Kettles people would only bring more war

Ride on Cheyenne soldier and call your tribes from the sky

We will gather on the plains and take back our land and pride

Ride on Cheyenne Soldier, ride on… ride on

Driven from their homeland by broken promises and fear

Once a peaceful and powerful people, they now walk a trail of tears

They were marched 1000 miles from home, some crawling on their knees

4000 plus left dead and dying of starvation and disease

Walk on Cherokee warrior and call your tribes from the sky

We will rise up out of the mountains and take back our land and pride

Walk on Cherokee Warrior, walk on… walk on

Ride on Cheyenne soldier. Walk on Cherokee Warrior

Call your tribes from the skies and take back our land and pride

Ride on, walk on, ride on, walk on

War Pony

She is a heavy silver steed

From the far away land of the Swedes

Born in 1991 only a few left of her breed

She’s a hard driving girl that gets better with age

12 years together now, we turn another page

Many trails we’ve ridden and many still to run

War pony is ready to ride into battle again

Down an old dirt road, she is ready to go

Branded and saddled, following those dotted lines

Looking through the rearview, we leave the world behind

She’s not as fast as she used to be

Held together with duct tape and need

She feels right and tight in my hands running at full speed

She’s still steady on the flatlands and around the bend

A classic on the outside and safe and warm within

Moving fast, the wind blowing by, she won’t denied

War pony is ready to ride into battle again

Down an old dirt road, she is ready to go

Branded and saddled, following those dotted lines,

Looking through the rearview, we leave the world behind

War pony is ready to ride into battle again

Down an old dirt road, she is ready to go

Branded and saddled, following those dotted lines,

Looking through the rearview, we leave the world behind

War pony is ready to ride into battle again

Down an old dirt road, she is ready to go

You know she’s ready to go, she’s always ready to go

War pony is ready to ride into battle again

Tears of a Love Gone By

We faded slowly… I didn't even know

Like a drum beat in the distance soft and low

But even that drifted until there was no sound

I thought you'd always be around

There I go again

Hoping you'll be my friend

But I know otherwise

In my eyes… I can't disguise

Those tears of a love gone by

Those tears of a love gone by

When things started to go wrong

It burned like a prairie fire fast and strong

Our love scattered like ashes on the wind

Everything we were consumed in the end

There I go again

Hoping you'll be my friend

But I know otherwise

In my eyes… I can't disguise

Those tears of a love gone by

Those tears of a love gone by

Down on Old Crow Canyon

I knew you were mine

We were like two at the dawn of time

You were my prophet

Medicine for my soul

Now that you're gone

I don't know where to go

I don't know where to go

There I go again

Hoping you'll be my friend

But I know otherwise

In my eyes… I can't disguise

Those tears of a love gone by

Those tears of a love gone by

Those tears of a love gone by

Those tears of a love gone by

Ballad of Ned Christie

Some say Ned Christie was an Indian outlaw, others say he was an innocent man

While we may never know the truth, this is the legend as it stands

Outside a dog town bar a rifle shoot rang out one night

It was the spring of 87 if memory serves me right

A US Marshal named Dan Maples blood was spilled in the street

Killed by an assassin’s bullet walking back to Branch Creek

A ruffian named John Parris was picked up for the crime

He said “it was Ned Christie who pulled the trigger not I”

Christie stood 6’4 in the tribal senate where he served

A blacksmith by trade and his demeanor was reserved

Ned sent word to his family he said “I wasn’t there when the shooting went down”

He knew killing a white man was a hanging offense, so he quickly left town

A judge named Isaac Parker who was as mean as a rattlesnake

Said "Bring me Ned Christie I don't care what it takes."

Ned claimed he was wrongly accused and wasn’t carrying a gun that night

And vowed he wouldn’t be taken to Parkers court, not without a fight

Meanwhile, in Fort Smith, a bounty was put on Christie’s head

The Marshalls and a skilled tracker set out to take him alive or dead

They found Ned and his son James hiding out in a cabin near Rabbit Trap

And decided to wait until first light and try to smoke him out

It didn’t take long for smoke to fill the cabin and bullets to fly

Ned was shot in the face, fell hard to the floor and left to die

James fled the cabin for the woods but a bullet caught him that day

He was shot while jumping a fence but somehow got away

The lawmen returned the next morning to find Christie wounded but escaped

Ned would hold up in an old rock fort on a hilltop with supplies and wait

They decided not to endanger their men and let Ned stand his ground

Judge Parker was seething and as he sat upon his mighty throne

He issued a decree and said “I want Ned Christie gone.”

Ned’s face left scarred, his home destroyed, and wanting to avenge his son

He vowed that he would shoot anyone that came within range of his gun

Christie spent the next 5 years with his family before he got his fight

He was killed by a posse that attacked his fortress with cannon and dynamite

Ned’s corpse was dragged around town for days, a rifle strapped across his chest

Before his body was shipped by train to his father and Ned was laid to rest

Years later a witness came forth and said Christie had been framed by a railroad man

But to this day he remains an outlaw to the powers that be and a hero to the Cherokee

He was a hero to the Cherokee

He is a hero to the Cherokee