Johnson County War Cifras

[Intro]
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Am    G  Am
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F  C  G  Am
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[Verse 1]
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Headed for Wyoming, in 1882
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A woman, a team, and a wagon, gonna make our dreams come true
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Settled in the foothills of the big horn mountain slope
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Life was sweet, we lived on the meat
       G                    Am
Of the deer and the antelope
       Am                                      G                  Am
We cut house logs up on the mountain, with the team we hauled 'em down
Am                                      G                    Am
Peeled 'em and we stacked 'em up, for a house and bought 'em ground
F               C                  G               Am
Traded for some cattle, turned 'em out on the open range
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The skies were blue, we never knew
    G                 Am
How things were gonna change
 
[Chorus]
F          C             G                Am
Ole Powder River, you're muddy and you're wide
    F             C               E
How many men have died along your shore
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When you brand a man a rustler, he's gotta take a side
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There's no middle ground in this Johnson County War
 
[Verse 2]
          Am                                          G                  Am
Well, the neighbors stopped by yesterday, while I was outside choppin' wood
Am                                                   G                    Am
And they filled me in on the local news, there ain't none of it sounded good
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Said there'd been some cattle stealin', by some no count outlaw bands
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We'd all been branded rustlers
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by the big ranchers of this land
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Well, it was us against the cattlemen, and the years just made it worse
Am                                                   G                       Am
First the drought and then the tough winter, Johnson County had been dealt a curse
F                   C               G               Am
Then there came the story about the two dry gulch attacks
Am
Ranger Jones and John Tisdale
G                   Am
both shot in the back...
 
[Chorus]
F          C             G                Am
Oh, Powder River, you're muddy and you're wide
    F             C               E
How many men have died along your shore
         F             C        G                 Am
When you brand a man a rustler, he's gotta take a side
Am                               G              Am
There's no middle ground in this Johnson County War
 
[Verse 3]
Am                              G                 Am
Then last night at supper time, riders stopped by chance
              Am                                      G                 Am
They said the cattlemen and their hired guns had just burned the Kaycee Ranch
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Two men had died this mornin', shot down in the snow
        Am
Now the vigilante army
              G             Am
Was on the march to Buffalo
          Am                                 G                 Am
Well, the county was in an uproar, and every man saddled up to ride
           Am                                G                Am
Caught the cattlemen at the TA Ranch, and surrounded all four sides
F                        C           G                      Am
We hailed the house with bullets and swore they were gonna pay
        Am
But the calvery came across the plains
          G                     Am
And once again they saved the day
 
[Verse 4]
           Am                               G                Am
Well, they marched 'em off to Cheyenne, and no one went to jail
    Am                                       G                    Am
The cattlemen were all turned loose, and the hired guns hit the trail
      F                  C           G                 Am
And I guess the only justice, wasn't much to say the least
(Am)
Last winter me and mine ate mighty fine
 
On the cattle baron's beef
 
[Chorus]
F          C             G                Am
Oh, Powder River, you're muddy and you're wide
    F             C               E
How many men have died along your shore
         F             C        G                 Am
When you brand a man a rustler, he's gotta take a side
Am                               G              Am
There's no middle ground in this Johnson County War
 
           Am                    G              Am
There's no middle ground in this Johnson County War
 
[Outro]
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