He would go out in the mountains in depression days so sad.
With a bow and arrow straight he'd put meat upon the grate
Of the fireplace in the cabin where he learned to love, not hate.
Earl Durand, Earl Durand,
Born too late a mountain man;
He was shot down in the Tetons
By the law's bloodthirsty band.
Boundin' lightly crag to crag, Earl Durand would hunt the stag;
Elk and moose meat, too, he brought just to fill his hungry bag.
Skinned 'em out and used the hides to keep warm his young insides
With the buckskin clothes he wore on his lonely mountain rides.
Earl Durand, Earl Durand,
Born too late a mountain man;
He was shot down in the Tetons
By the law's bloodthirsty band.
One day with meat so raw, Earl was captured by the law,
Hauled away to Cody Jail, bedded down on a cot of straw.
Then he fled into the hills, leavin' behind the city's ills
When the lawmen came to get him, Earl, those greedy hunters, drills.
Earl Durand, Earl Durand,
Born too late a mountain man;
He was shot down in the Tetons
By the law's bloodthirsty band.
[Spoken]
'Bout six-foot-two, 250 pounds, he was a crack shot. Throw a marble into the air, and he'd shatter it into a million fragments every time. He went to high school for a while, but he didn't dig that scene very much. And so he took off into the mountain wilderness there, the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming. Started livin' off the land; makin' his own clothes out of buckskin. Let his hair grow out, let his beard grow. Well, the folks back in town, they didn't dig his scene very much either, so one day they hauled him in for huntin' elk out of season, found him guilty, sentenced him to six months in jail.
Well, from where he was at, [through] his cell window, he could see the Wind River Mountains, the mountains that he loved. But then one day the DA come in, started talkin' to him about some rich rancher's cattle that had been shot, about pinnin' the whole thing on him. So Earl says to the DA, he says, "Well, if I'm found guilty of that, what's it gonna mean?" So the DA says to him, "Well, you'll have to spend two years in the state penitentiary at Rawlins."
Now two years is an awful long time, and from the Rawlins jail cell window he wouldn't be able to see those mountains that he loved. So one day when the guard come in with his breakfast, he conked him over the head with a milk bottle. When he come to, he told him to drive him out to his folks' place. He sent him back to town with a message then that he didn't want to kill nobody, he just wanted to live as free as he wanted to live, but that if they'd come after him, he'd shoot to kill. So, the sheriff and his deputy they come out after him; he shot 'em both and he took off into the hills.
In the wilderness he lay, changin' lair from day to day.
Come to town to get some shells, see his folks, then get away.
Earl Durand, Earl Durand,
Born too late a mountain man;
He was shot down in the Tetons
By the law's bloodthirsty band.
When Park County got too hot, Earl decided to change his spot,
Rambled down through Yellowstone, to the Tetons, at a trot.
Then the sheriff swore so hard, he called out the National Guard,
And with howitzers and mortars, they played down their last hole card.
Earl Durand, Earl Durand,
Born too late a mountain man;
He was shot down in the Tetons
By the law's bloodthirsty band.
[Spoken]
That's right, ladies and gentlemen, howitzers and mortars after one lone man sittin' up there on a ridge. And the National Guard, too. They sent two men up after him, hollered up, "Earl, you know we've got you, so why don't you give yourself up?"
Well, from about a thousand yards, he picked them both off with two shots. Come nightfall, he'd slip through their lines and go out and get himself some food, and then before dawn he'd slip through their lines again, get up on the ridge, and play their games with them. And pretty soon he was out of ammunition, so he cut off his beard and cut off his hair with a knife that he had up there. He come down to the line then, and he says to the man there, "Say, have they got that Earl Durand fellow yet?" The guy says, "Nope." So Earl Durand says, "Well I'm about out of ammunition." And the other guy says, "Well, I'm about out too." So Earl says to him, "Well, how about drivin' us both to town so we can get some more ammunition?" So the guy drove 'em both to town. Earl, he went into the bank where he had some money. The townsfolk heard he was in there, and they gathered outside. Earl, he come out with a bank teller in front of him at gunpoint. Some trigger-happy sixteen-year-old kid shot him from the crowd, and, by reflex action, he shot and killed the teller. And then he turned the gun on his own self and he shot himself. Someone later asked the kid how he felt about killin' that notorious outlaw fellow, Earl Durand. And the kid said, "Sick."
But Earl was free as air, and down from his mountain lair,
He'd slip through their lines at night, and at dawn he'd not be there.
'Till at last with food all gone, and his stomach pinched and drawn,
He faced them in the twilight, and their bullets cut him down.
Earl Durand, Earl Durand,
Born too late a mountain man;
He was shot down in the Tetons
By the law's bloodthirsty band.
Earl just wanted to live free, just the same as you and me,
But the game laws said, "Oh no!" So this free soul had to go.
And his flight was called a crime, although in an earlier time
He'd have been a mountain man instead of shot down in his prime.
Earl Durand, Earl Durand,
Born too late a mountain man.
Called the Tarzan of the Tetons,
Killed by civilization's hand.
With a bow and arrow straight he'd put meat upon the grate
Of the fireplace in the cabin where he learned to love, not hate.
Earl Durand, Earl Durand,
Born too late a mountain man;
He was shot down in the Tetons
By the law's bloodthirsty band.
Boundin' lightly crag to crag, Earl Durand would hunt the stag;
Elk and moose meat, too, he brought just to fill his hungry bag.
Skinned 'em out and used the hides to keep warm his young insides
With the buckskin clothes he wore on his lonely mountain rides.
Earl Durand, Earl Durand,
Born too late a mountain man;
He was shot down in the Tetons
By the law's bloodthirsty band.
One day with meat so raw, Earl was captured by the law,
Hauled away to Cody Jail, bedded down on a cot of straw.
Then he fled into the hills, leavin' behind the city's ills
When the lawmen came to get him, Earl, those greedy hunters, drills.
Earl Durand, Earl Durand,
Born too late a mountain man;
He was shot down in the Tetons
By the law's bloodthirsty band.
[Spoken]
'Bout six-foot-two, 250 pounds, he was a crack shot. Throw a marble into the air, and he'd shatter it into a million fragments every time. He went to high school for a while, but he didn't dig that scene very much. And so he took off into the mountain wilderness there, the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming. Started livin' off the land; makin' his own clothes out of buckskin. Let his hair grow out, let his beard grow. Well, the folks back in town, they didn't dig his scene very much either, so one day they hauled him in for huntin' elk out of season, found him guilty, sentenced him to six months in jail.
Well, from where he was at, [through] his cell window, he could see the Wind River Mountains, the mountains that he loved. But then one day the DA come in, started talkin' to him about some rich rancher's cattle that had been shot, about pinnin' the whole thing on him. So Earl says to the DA, he says, "Well, if I'm found guilty of that, what's it gonna mean?" So the DA says to him, "Well, you'll have to spend two years in the state penitentiary at Rawlins."
Now two years is an awful long time, and from the Rawlins jail cell window he wouldn't be able to see those mountains that he loved. So one day when the guard come in with his breakfast, he conked him over the head with a milk bottle. When he come to, he told him to drive him out to his folks' place. He sent him back to town with a message then that he didn't want to kill nobody, he just wanted to live as free as he wanted to live, but that if they'd come after him, he'd shoot to kill. So, the sheriff and his deputy they come out after him; he shot 'em both and he took off into the hills.
In the wilderness he lay, changin' lair from day to day.
Come to town to get some shells, see his folks, then get away.
Earl Durand, Earl Durand,
Born too late a mountain man;
He was shot down in the Tetons
By the law's bloodthirsty band.
When Park County got too hot, Earl decided to change his spot,
Rambled down through Yellowstone, to the Tetons, at a trot.
Then the sheriff swore so hard, he called out the National Guard,
And with howitzers and mortars, they played down their last hole card.
Earl Durand, Earl Durand,
Born too late a mountain man;
He was shot down in the Tetons
By the law's bloodthirsty band.
[Spoken]
That's right, ladies and gentlemen, howitzers and mortars after one lone man sittin' up there on a ridge. And the National Guard, too. They sent two men up after him, hollered up, "Earl, you know we've got you, so why don't you give yourself up?"
Well, from about a thousand yards, he picked them both off with two shots. Come nightfall, he'd slip through their lines and go out and get himself some food, and then before dawn he'd slip through their lines again, get up on the ridge, and play their games with them. And pretty soon he was out of ammunition, so he cut off his beard and cut off his hair with a knife that he had up there. He come down to the line then, and he says to the man there, "Say, have they got that Earl Durand fellow yet?" The guy says, "Nope." So Earl Durand says, "Well I'm about out of ammunition." And the other guy says, "Well, I'm about out too." So Earl says to him, "Well, how about drivin' us both to town so we can get some more ammunition?" So the guy drove 'em both to town. Earl, he went into the bank where he had some money. The townsfolk heard he was in there, and they gathered outside. Earl, he come out with a bank teller in front of him at gunpoint. Some trigger-happy sixteen-year-old kid shot him from the crowd, and, by reflex action, he shot and killed the teller. And then he turned the gun on his own self and he shot himself. Someone later asked the kid how he felt about killin' that notorious outlaw fellow, Earl Durand. And the kid said, "Sick."
But Earl was free as air, and down from his mountain lair,
He'd slip through their lines at night, and at dawn he'd not be there.
'Till at last with food all gone, and his stomach pinched and drawn,
He faced them in the twilight, and their bullets cut him down.
Earl Durand, Earl Durand,
Born too late a mountain man;
He was shot down in the Tetons
By the law's bloodthirsty band.
Earl just wanted to live free, just the same as you and me,
But the game laws said, "Oh no!" So this free soul had to go.
And his flight was called a crime, although in an earlier time
He'd have been a mountain man instead of shot down in his prime.
Earl Durand, Earl Durand,
Born too late a mountain man.
Called the Tarzan of the Tetons,
Killed by civilization's hand.
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