We crossed the Powder River in the fall of '81

Pulled heavy on the wagon for we knew that we were done

Thre thousand miles from Mexico where we had first begun

We started cuttin' timber by the ton


I was just a young man lookin' for my pot of gold

No irons in my fire nothin' bought nor nothin' sold

Still I longed for a lady with a tender heart to hold

And someone to keep me from the cold


And the Powder River Queen was any cowboy's dream

Sweet as the water runnin' through those mountain streams

So young and wild, soft like a child

Was my one and only Powder River Queen


When we rode off to Denver in the spring of '82

Well I swore it was the last time I'd ever buckaroo

And I promised her I'd marry her when all the work was through

And I left her with a kiss and "I love you"


But in a bar outside of Cheyenne I shot a gambler down

And left him slowly dyin' lyin' face down on the ground

Now I'm stuck here in a jail cell waitin' on my last sundown

When they hang me in the center of the town


And the Powder River Queen will wonder where I've been

When I will send my love to her no more

As all the plans we've made begin to slowly fade

I see my Powder Queen outside the door


And she begins to cry as I touch her through the bars

She says, "For weeks I've wondered where and how on earth you are

Wishing you'd return on every fallin' star

Now you won't cross that river anymore."


And the Powder River Queen is the last face I have seen

As the sound of the gallows ring outside

And by the light I know that soon this day will end at noon

And I'll never make my Powder Queen my bride

No I'll never make my Powder Queen my bride