While drivin' a herd of cattle out in old Nebraska Way

Headin' east at Broken Bow one hot September day

Tryin' to get to Omaha, we hoped to find a buyer

We never counted in the odds of a western prairie fire



A hot south wind was blowin' and the air was gettin' dry

Somethin' far away was spellin' trouble in the sky

Commin' closer was a sound that topped the Devil's choir

Then we knew we'd have to race a raging prairie fire



When all at once a flame is seen a-lickin' at the sky

And every heart is quickened and there's fear in every eye

We've just one chance to get away for there's no place to hide

Got to reach the river flat when it's deep and one mile wide



The herd is gettin' tired but we've got no time to rest

I try to clear the red dust that is gathered in my chest

From ridin' tail on a thousand head with the weather gettin' dry

The black cloud in the west is warnin' ride, ride, ride



The roarin' heat is close, the ash is fallin' by our side

And every feastin' bird is fleein' with it's warnin' cry

We got to reach the river but it's still ten miles or more

And close behind us we can hear that wild, infernal roar



But fate had other plans for we lost that fatal race

We lost, for neither man nor beast could all keep up the pace

The mighty flats subdued it's rage but none were there to rest

We did our best to get away but only I am left



Now on the blackened prairie far as the eye can see

The grim remains are there to show that God rules you and me

Just one he left to tell the tale, just one was his desire

We lost a herd and thirty men to a raging prairie fire