D                              G
Little Joe, The Wrangler, will wrangle nevermore
    D                               A7
His days with the roundup, they are o'er
      D                            G
Was a year ago last April, when he rode into our camp
       D            A7                D
Just a little Texas stray and nothin' more.
                                 G
Was late in the ev'nin', when he rode into our camp
     D                            A7
On a little Texas pony, he called Chaw
         D                            G
With his brogan shoes and overalls, a tougher lookin' kid
    D             A7               D
You never in your life before, had saw.

[Verse]
    G                               D
His saddle was a Texas 'kack' built many years ago
                                  A7
An O.K. spur on one foot, lightly swung
         D                                G
With his pack rolled in a cotton sack, so loosely tied behind
      D                A7               D
And a canteen from his saddle horn, was slung.

He said he had to leave his home, his (G) pa had married twice
    D                               A7
His new ma whipped him every day or two
      D                                 G
So he saddled up old Chaw one night and "lit a shuck" this way
   D                A7                  A7
He said he'd try to paddle his own can- oe.
     G                                    D
He'd said if we would give him work, he'd do the best he could
                                         A7
Tho' he didn't know straight up, about a cow
       D                                G
So the Boss, he cut him out a mount and kindly put him on
   D                A7                D
He sorta liked this little kid, some- how.

[Verse]
                                 G
He learned to wrangle horses and learned to know them all
    D                              A7
And get them in at daybreak, if he could
       D                             G
And to trail the old chuck wagon and always hitch the team
    D                 A7                D
And help the "cookie" ev'nin's - rustle wood.
       G                             D
We had hardly reached the Pecos, the weather it was fine
                                            A7
We were camped down on the south side, in a draw
       D                                  G
When a 'Norther' commenced blowin' and we doubled up our guard
        D           A7               D
It took ev'ryone of us, to hold them in.

[Verse]
                              G
Little Joe, The Wrangler, was called out with the rest
         D                                 A7
Scarcely had the little fellow reached the herd
         D                              G
When the cattle, they stampeded, like a hail storm on, they fled
    D            A7             D
And ev'ryone was ridin' for the lead.
   G                                       D
A- mid the streaks of lightnin', there was one horse up ahead
                                           A7
He was tryin' to catch the leader in their speed
       D                                G
It was Little Joe, The Wrangler, with a slicker o'er his head
       D               A7            D
He was ridin' old Blue Rocket in the lead.

[Verse]
                                 G
At last, we got them millin' and kinda quieted down
        D                                A7
And the extra guards, back to the wagon, went
    D                                  G
But there was one a-missin', you could see it, at a glance
        D            A7                   D
Was our little Texas stray, poor wrangler Joe.
     G                             D
Next mornin', just at daybreak, we found where Rocket fell
                                   A7
Down in a washout, twenty feet be- low
    D                                       G
Be- neath his horse, his life was gone, his spur had rung its knell
        D            A7                   D
Was our little Texas stray, poor wrangler Joe.