Marty Robbins - Prairie Fire lyrics

While drivin' a herd of cattle
Out in old Nebraska way
Headin' east at Broken Bow on
A hot September day
Tryin' to get to Omaha we
Hoped to find a buyer
We never counted in the odds
Of a western prairie fire

A hot south wind was blowin' and
The air was gettin' dry
Somethin' far away was spellin'
Trouble in the sky
Comin' closer was a sound that
Topped the devil's choir
Then we knew we had to
Race a raging prairie fire

When all at once a flame is
Seen a lickin' at the sky
And every heart has quicken' and
There's fear in every eye
We'd just one chance to get away
For there's no place to hide
Gotta reach the river Platte one inch
Deep and one mile wide

The herd is gettin' tired but we've
Got no time to rest
I try to clear the red dust
That is gatherin' in my chest
From ridin' tail on a thousand head
With the weather gettin' dry
The black cloud in the west
Is warning ride ride ride

The roarin' heat is closer ashes
Fallin' by our side
And every beast and bird is
Fleein' with it's warnin' cry
We've got to reach the river but
It's still ten miles or more
And close behind us we can
Hear that wild infernal roar

But fate had other plans for
We lost that fatal race
We lost for neither man nor beast
Could long keep up the pace
The mighty Platte subdued it's rage but
None were there to rest
We did our best to get away
But only I am left
Now on the blackened prairie far
As the eye can see
The grim remains are there to show
That God rules you and me
Just one he left to tell the
Tale just one was his desire
We lost our herd and thirty men
To a raging prairie fire