Bucking Balley
by Dave Rhodes
I got married the first of January
Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-One,
And was scheduled to make
The seventy-five-mile
Naturally, I wanted a short furlough,
The rules said one substitute was enough.
I talked a rider in to taking my place,
And he felt the distance was pretty rough.
I warned him about the horse he would get
On his return trip from 'Rush',
"If you're not careful you will end up
Lying on your back in the brush."
"Cause when you jump on this horse,
He will either 'back' or fall over backwards,
And will not mind where you land,
Or what's back there, buckets, wagons or cow
herds."
"Oh", said he, "I am used to that kind of business,
Let me ride this untamed nag,
I'll get the spurs a going and show who's boss
And this ride will be in the bag."
"But", said I, "'Bucking Bally' is a whole team and a horse to
let,
And a little dog under the wagon,
Be careful or your ride will be a walk without a
horse,
And you'll come in a draggin'."
He took a little of the advice I gave,
As a precaution after he tightened the saddle good,
Led the horse a quarter mile from the station,
Then jumped on 'Bucking Bally' as fast as he could.
Well, the horse, true to his habit,
Got busy and did his backward thing, but fast.
The next thing the rider knew
he was in a predicament he hoped would'nt last.
He was hanging by the back of his overcoat
From the high stake of a stake and rider fence,
His boots dangling five feet from the ground.
How and why he was there didn't make much sense.
High stake fence at Tippet, Nevada
He could not reach behind him to un-hitch,
He could not un-button his coat so as to crawl out,
So he reached in his pocket for his knife
To cut the buttons off, that would work no doubt.
As each button popped and hit the ground
He would drop a bit with a humiliating jolt.
At last he got off the fence, and was ready to try
again,
That's when 'Bucking Bally' decided to bolt.
The worst situation for an express rider
was a search in the dark night for a horse.
He eventually found 'Bally' and made the trip,
Getting a 'black eye' for loss of time, of course.
He said to the boys when he got back,
"The day I ride for Egan again you will never
see,
And there's something wrong with the horses he rides,
I tell you its no more 'Bucking Bally' for me.
Copyright 1997, David E.
Rhodes
Monument at the location of
Inset at top: Mochilla with four mail pouches, fitted
over top of saddle.