JIM BRIDGER
(Leon Payne)

Johnny Horton - 1960


Once there was a mountain man who couldn't write his name
Yet he deserves a front row seat in history's hall of fame
He forgot more about the Indians than we will ever know
He spoke the language of the Sioux, the Blackfoot and the Crow

(Let's drink to old Jim Bridger, yes, lift your glasses high)
As long as there's a USA, don't let his memory die
(That he was makin' history never once occured to him)
But I doubt if we'd'a been here, if it weren't for men like Jim

He spoke with General Custer and said, "Listen, Yellow Hair,
The Sioux are a great nation, so treat 'em fair and square,
Sit in on their war council, don't laugh away their pride"
But Custer didn't listen, at Little Big Horn Custer died

(Let's drink to old Jim Bridger, yes, lift your glasses high)
As long as there's a USA, don't let his memory die
(That he was makin' history never once occured to him)
But I doubt if we'd'a been here, if it weren't for men like Jim

There's poems and there's legends that tell of Carson's fame
Yet, compared to Jim Bridger, Kit was civilised and tame
These words are straight from Carson's lips, if you place such store by him
"If there's a man who knows this Godforsaken land, it's Jim"

(Let's drink to old Jim Bridger, yes, lift your glasses high)
As long as there's a USA, don't let his memory die
(That he was makin' history never once occured to him)
But I doubt if we'd'a been here, if it weren't for men like Jim











(Contributed by  - March 2010)