Gringo Pistolero Michael Martin Murphey

When the bandit, Chico Cana, crossed the river, at Boquillas
Stole the young bride of the rancher Juan Otero
Juan caught up his fastest mare, and north to Marathon he rode
To hire himself, a gringo pistolero

Spread the word along the river, tell it through the borderland
That the Hound of Death is howling, after Chico Cana's band
Juan will seal their fate as surely as the rising of the sun
With the guns, of the gringo pistolero

The round hat of a trooper, cast a shadow ‘crost his eyes
As he listened to the tale of Juan Otero
At the name of Chico Cana, there could be no talk of price
Just the Gringo’s vow of vengeance, “Yo arrero”

Oil the big Colt automatics, and with the daylight, he was gone
With the coming cold, and darkness, he rode into Castollon
And a drunken bandit, caught there read the message
“Talk or Die!”
In the eyes of the Gringo Pistolero

Where the Canyon Colorado, twists its way among the rocks
And the ribbon of the sky is long and narrow
In a jacal of adobe, bruised and tied up on the floor
Wept the young wife of the rancher Juan Otero