The Heart Of The Appaloosa

From the land of shooting waters

To the peaks of the Coeur d'Alene

Thimbleberries in the forest

Elk grazing on the plain

The people of the coyote

Made their camp along the streams

Of the green Wallowa Valley

When fences had no name

And they bred a strain of horses

The treasure of the tribe

Who could toe-dance on a ridge

Or gallop up a mountainside

Who could haul the hunter's burden

Turn a buffalo stampede

The horse that wore the spotted coat

Was born with matchless speed

Thunder Rolling in the Mountains

Lead the people across the Great Divide

There's blood on the snow in the hills of Idaho

But the heart of the Appaloosa never died

In the winter came the crowned ones

Near frozen in the cold

Bringing firearms and spyglasses

And a book that saves the soul

The people gave them welcome

Nursed them 'til their strength returned

And studied the talking paper

Its mysteries to learn

In the shadow of the mission

Sprang up farms and squatter towns

The plain was lined with fences

The plow blade split the ground

In the shallows of the Clearwater

Gold glittered in the pan

And the word would come from Washington

Remove the Indian

Thunder Rolling in the Mountains

Lead the people across the Great Divide

There's blood on the snow in the hills of Idaho

But the heart of the Appaloosa never died

The chief spoke to the people

In his anger and his pain

"I am no more Chief Joseph

Rolling Thunder is my name

They condemn us to a wasteland

Of barren soil and stone

We shall fight them if we must

But we will find another home"

They fled into the Bitterroot

An army at their heels

They fought at White Bird Canyon

They fought at Misery Hill

'Til the colonel saw his strategy

And sent the order down

To kill the Appaloosa

Wherever it be found

Thunder Rolling in the Mountains

Lead the people across the Great Divide

There's blood on the snow in the hills of Idaho

But the heart of the Appaloosa never died

Twelve hundred miles retreating

Three times over the Divide

The horse their only safety

Their only ally

Three thousand Appaloosas

Perished with the tribe

The people and the horses

Dying side by side

Thunder Rolling in the Mountains said

"My heart is sick and sad

Our children now are freezing

The old chiefs are dead

The hunger takes our spirit

Our wounds are deep and sore

From where the sun now stands

I will fight no more"

Thunder Rolling in the Mountains

Lead the people across the Great Divide

There's blood on the snow in the hills of Idaho

But the heart of the Appaloosa never died

They were sent to Oklahoma

Malaria ran rife

But more died of broken hearts

Far from the land that gave them life

And the man once called Joseph

At death was heard to say

"We have given up our horses

They have gone away"

But sometimes without warning

From a dull domestic herd

A spotted horse of spirit

Wondrous will emerge

Strong it is and fearless

And nimble on a hill

Listening for thunder

The Appaloosa's living still

Thunder Rolling in the Mountains

Lead the people across the Great Divide

There's blood on the snow in the hills of Idaho

But the heart of the Appaloosa never died

Thunder Rolling in the Mountains

Lead the people across the Great Divide

There's blood on the snow in the hills of Idaho

But the heart of the Appaloosa never died