Johnson County War Chords

Lyrics & chords

[Intro 1]
[Am]
[E][Am][A][Am]
[Dm][G]
[A][Am][G][Am][F][C][G]
[A][Am][G][Am]
Headed [G]for Wyoming,

[Verse 1]
[Am]in 1882..a woman, a team, and a wagon.
[A]Gonna [G]make our dreams come [A]true.[Am]
[F]Settled in the [C]foothills of the
[G]big horn mountain [Am]slope.
Life is sweet we lived on the meat,
of the [G]deer and [D]the antelope.[A][Am]
We cut house logs on the mountain,
with the [G]team we [A]hauled 'em down.[Am]
Peeled 'em and we stacked 'em up,
[G]for a house [Am]an d bought some ground.
[F]Traded for some [C]cattle,
and turned [G]'em out on the [A]range.
[Am]The skies were blue and we n[G]ever
knew...how things [A]were gonna change.[Am]
[F]Ole powder [C]river, you're [G]muddy and [Am]wide,
how [F]many men [C]have died...upon
Your [E]shores.
When you [F]brand a man a rust[C]ler,
[G]he's gotta take a [Am]side.
There's no middle ground in this
[G]Johnson country [Am]war.[Dm][Am]
[A]Well, the nei[Am]ghbors stopped by yesterday,
while I was [G]outside choppin'
Some [A]wood.
And they filled me in on the local
news, ain't [G]none of [A]it sounded good,
[Dm]Said, they'd [F]been some cattle steal[C]in',
by some no count [Am]outlaw bands.
We'd all been branded rustler's
by the big [G]ranchers [A]of this land.
Well it was [Am]us against the cattlemen,
and the [G]years just made it [Am]worse.
First the drought,
then the tough winter, John[G]son county had [Dm]been dealt
A curse,
[F]Then their came the [C]story about
the [G]two dry gol[Am]gia tax.
Ranger Jones and John [G]Tisdale
both been shot [Am]in the back
[F]Oh, powder [C]river,
you're [G]muddy and you're [Am]wide,
How [F]many men have [C]died
upon your [E]shores.
When you [F]brand a man a rust[C]ler,
[G]he's gotta take a [Am]side.
There's no middle ground in this
[G]Johnson county [A]war.[Am]
[A]Then last night at supper time,
[G]riders stopped by [Am]chance.
They said [A]cattleman and hired guns, just
[G]burned the [Am]Kaycee ranch,
Two [F]men had died this [C]mornin',
[G]shot down [D]in the snow.
[Am]Now the vigilante army
was march[G]in' for buffalo.
[A]Wel[Am]l the county was in an uproar,
an every [G]man saddled [Dm]up to [A]ride.
[Am]Caught the cattlemen at the ta r[A]anch, and
sur[G]rounded [D]all four [Am]sides.[Dm]
[F]We hailed the house with [C]bullets and
[G]swore we'd make 'em pay.
[A]But the cavalry cam[Am]e across the plains,
and once [G]again saved the [Am]day.
Well, they marched 'em off to Chey[C]enne,
[G]and no one went [Am]to jail.
The cattlemen [G]we're all [F]turned
[G]loose, and the hired guns hit the trail.
[Am]And I gues[F]s the only[C] justice,
wasn't [G]much to say the least.
[Am]Last winter me and mine ate mighty fine
[G]on the cattle baron's [Am]beef.[G][E]
[F]Oh powder [C]river,
you're [G]muddy and you're [Am]wide.
How [F]many men have [C]died
upon your [E]shores.
When you [F]brand a man a rust[C]ler,
[G]he's gotta take a [Am]side.
There's no middle ground in this
[G]Johnson county [Am]war.
There's no middle ground in this [G]Johnson
county [Am]war

[Outro 1]
[G][Am][G][Am]
[F][C][G][Am][G]