We crossed the Powder River in the fall of '81   Pulled heavy on the wagon for we knew that we were done   Thre thousand miles from Mexico where we had first begun   We started cuttin' timber by the ton      I was just a young man lookin' for my pot of gold   No irons in my fire nothin' bought nor nothin' sold   Still I longed for a lady with a tender heart to hold   And someone to keep me from the cold      And the Powder River Queen was any cowboy's dream   Sweet as the water runnin' through those mountain streams   So young and wild, soft like a child   Was my one and only Powder River Queen      When we rode off to Denver in the spring of '82   Well I swore it was the last time I'd ever buckaroo   And I promised her I'd marry her when all the work was through   And I left her with a kiss and "I love you"      But in a bar outside of Cheyenne I shot a gambler down   And left him slowly dyin' lyin' face down on the ground   Now I'm stuck here in a jail cell waitin' on my last sundown   When they hang me in the center of the town      And the Powder River Queen will wonder where I've been   When I will send my love to her no more   As all the plans we've made begin to slowly fade   I see my Powder Queen outside the door      And she begins to cry as I touch her through the bars   She says, "For weeks I've wondered where and how on earth you are   Wishing you'd return on every fallin' star   Now you won't cross that river anymore."      And the Powder River Queen is the last face I have seen   As the sound of the gallows ring outside   And by the light I know that soon this day will end at noon   And I'll never make my Powder Queen my bride   No I'll never make my Powder Queen my bride