The Ferryman's Pole Poem by John Stetson

I swear by the ferryman's pole, my soul, the tale I tell is true
And if you have a soul, I pray, the same won't come to you, Boys
The same won't come to you

In the West, I say, back in the day of the Talon River crossing
When the Claw came down it tore the ground upon which we'd been standing
I say where we'd been standing

In the rocks and rills of the Shorthorn Hills, the cattle men they would gather
In the Fall of the year when the river runs clear and cider's sweet and peaches turned to brandy
The peaches turned to brandy

Well the Talon River sometimes claws its way through pleasant Springtime
But it mostly flows down sweet and slow and the trout jump in the moonlight
The trout jump in the moonlight

I saddled up with the boys to fetch the cows down from the mountain
To graze down here where there is no fear a freeze will stop the fountain
No freeze to stop the the fountain

Where the gentian stands on the gentle sands as white as the driven snow
'Fore winter's blow fills all this land with the icy one we know
The icy one we know

It was Joe and Pete and Slide Whistle Ike and jolly jew's harp Johnny
And the new fella Bill who didn't say much and he kept to the rear of the party
Trailing our dear party

Since he joined the crew the Bar D few who threw lariats for their living
He kept to himself and he'd never say much like someone who was hiding
Like something he was hiding

And we never did know where the Boss found Bill when hands was hard to come by
Nor would Bill say where he'd spent his days when he was just a shaver
When he was just a shaver

But we didn't think about it much in this business they come and they go
And the pals that stay are the ones you say are ones you'd fall in with
The ones you'd fall in with

The ones you'd stick with thick or thin and count on when you need 'em
On whom you count when troubles mount and someone lies a'bleedin'
Someone lies a'bleedin'



We crossed the streams where the fool's gold gleams as we joked and told our stories
And each man spoke of his love and home when work's all done this Fall
When the work's all done this Fall

We hadn't made it halfway up with Bill still trailing badly
When Johnny said to Pete and Joe let's stop here and eat dinner
We'd be home in time for supper

Slide Whistle Ike said a plan I like presents itself most handy
So I went back down to round up Bill my beans and biscuits waiting
My beans and biscuits waiting

I turned my mount back down the hill an eye peeled for Bill's pony
When it caught my eye upslope in the bye near a shaking quakie standing
A shaky quakie standing

That's where my knees like the trembling trees moved in the breeze a whisperin'
But it wasn't the wind left the bone and skin above my boots a'shakin'
Surely, I was mistaken

Young Bill had tied his horse to a sapling down where the trail was bending
And climbed up high framed in the sky behind him dark as midnight
What happened to the daylight?

A ghastly glow surrounds him so like embers from the Devil's campfire
His eyes and face had greatly aged and he smiled like the rage of the Talon River
The raging Talon River

For there stood Bill on that cursed hill his eyes ablaze like lightning
Astride a stream that turned to steam under where Mad Bill was standing
Right where that Bill was standing

It hissed and moaned and turned the stones I swear to molten metal
It swept more stones that broke like bones as they tumbled down the mountain
That wretched cursed mountain

He was on a ridge above the boys still laughin' with their dinner
They couldn't see for a line of trees hid their eyes from doom impending
All Hades was descending

I shouted up, 'Joe grab the boys and ride to where I'm standing! '
But he couldn't hear me and my desperate plea was lost on that black mountain
That black and burning mountain

Then Ike first heard that sound not found this side of the river Styx
And he barely had time to shout the names of his saddle mates and home
'Home boys! Head for home! '

But there was no time to clear their mind and comprehend what's coming
For who could know what terrible blow upon them was descending
All Hades was descending



Off to the side downslope my ride I had time to unburden
I don't know why but somehow thought I might could use my lasso
Tied there upon my saddle

On a small steep bluff it was just enough to stay above the current
But it couldn't last I was thinkin' fast but what might be my savin'?
How my hide to be savin'

As they tumbled past the boys I'd last left as my sweet companions
Were screamin' like the demon that unleashed this ghastly end
This fiery ghastly end

As I swung the horn down from my mount my eyes swept up past Bill
He was staring down from the Devil's crown to the witches brew below
The maelstrom down below

He was still astride that deadly tide that somehow he had conjured
And I could see him smilin' there his eyes still fire a'blazin'
His eyes like fire a'blazin'

And he laughed, I swear like a banshee there above the Hell below
A screamin' wail that would even pale a priest upon his altar
Mid prayer from the altar

Fire still shooting from his eyes lightning in each hand
He was looking down upon the ground where now I made my stand
I thought it my last stand

The cauldron boiled like a Coven's glow 'cept now a torrent ragin'
And the last I saw of the Bar D crew was a wisp and smolderin' ember
A charred and smolderin' ember

The quakie grove on the bluff I strove around me started crumblin'
And I stumbled round on the crumblin' ground my mind a maverick runnin'
A branded maverick runnin'

My faithful mount fell from my sight his scream announcing his sad plight
It rose high above with the Devil's roar and tumbled down to the valley floor
It tumbled down to the valley floor

The white bark trees all lost their leaves as they twisted in confusion
They bent, some broke, but like the spokes of a penny farthing twisted
Together some had twisted

The stump of one spar poked above the rest beside me slope descending
And I roped that spit in the hope that it would not have me on the fire turning
On that fire turning

I tied one end to my saddle horn with a stirrup on each side
And I held my breath diggin' in my spurs prayin' this would be my ride
That this would be my ride

My wooden bronco bucked and turned in this rodeo from Hell
As the torrent grew round and round we flew to the Talon down below
The Talon down below

In all of my riata days I never held on tighter
I knew that this was my last crew and I'd go down a fighter
I would go down a fighter



Then something came upside my head and last I saw stars blazin'
And when my sense at last I found I was floating down the Talon
The swiftly flowing Talon

Around me floated such a mess as I have never seen
But the mount I chose still above it rose and carried me to safety
Carried me down to safety

I prayed and swore on that rocky shore where the Talon left me lying
And when I looked back t'ward the peak where we had all been standing
Nothing was left standing

I miss those boys and the open skies but not that haunted mountain
I'll not return with all I've learned and days I still am countin'
Each day I will be countin'

As a day I've earned by lessons learned and not taken for granted
So I won't go whether sand or snow to the Talon River Crossing
Ne'er the Talon I'll be crossing

The days I've left before my death not many I can count on
But with my last breath I'll curse his name that surely you can count on
That surely you can count on

With my death rattle I'll curse his name
That surely you can count on