Powder River, Let 'Er Buck

DESCRIPTION: "Powder river, let 'er buck, A surgin' mass of cattle, Roundup wagons full of chuck, Horns and hooves a-rattle...." A description of the cows, horses, and cowboys to be met during a cattle drive.
AUTHOR: Powder River Jack Lee?
EARLIEST DATE: 1930 (recording, Powder River Jack & Kitty Lee)
KEYWORDS: cowboy horse work travel nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Ohrlin-HellBoundTrain 40, "Powder River, Let 'er Buck" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: Powder River Jack and Kitty Lee's _Songs of the Range: Cowboy Wails of Cattle Trails_, Chart Music, 1937, pp. 4-5, "Powder River, Ler 'er Buck" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11524
RECORDINGS:
Powder River Jack & Kitty Lee, "Powder River, Let 'Er Buck" (Victor 23527, 1930; Montgomery Ward M-4462, 1934; on AuthCowboys)
NOTES [108 words]: The phrase "Powder River, let 'er buck" was the motto of a Wyoming division (comprised largely of cowboys) during World War I. Powder River Jack Lee claims to have composed the song, and there is no evidence to the contrary -- but the slogan must have come from somewhere.
Incidentally, the name of the river is explicitly "Powder River," not "The Powder River"; the local custom is that you don't use an article before the name, ever. (See Helena Huntington Smith, The War On Powder River, University of Nebraska Press, 1966, p. 1). According to Smith, p. 9, the first big cattle drive on Powder River was organized by Moreton Frewen i 1879. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.0
File: Ohr040

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