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Goodbye Old Paint
by Charley Willis
Cheyenne, Cheyenne, I’m a-leavin’ Cheyenne
Cheyenne, Cheyenne, I’m a-leavin’ Cheyenne
My foot’s in the stirrup, my rein in my hand
Goodbye, old Paint, I’m a-leavin’ Cheyenne
I’m a-leavin’ Cheyenne, I’m off to Montan’
Goodbye, old Paint, I’m a-leavin’ Cheyenne
Cheyenne, Cheyenne, I’m a-leavin’ Cheyenne
Cheyenne, Cheyenne, I’m a-leavin’ Cheyenne
My horses ain’t hungry, they won’t eat your hay
Goodbye, old Paint, I’m a-leavin’ Cheyenne
My wagon is loaded and rollin’ on its way
Goodbye, old Paint, I’m a-leavin’ Cheyenne
Cheyenne, Cheyenne, I’m a-leavin’ Cheyenne
Cheyenne, Cheyenne, I’m a-leavin’ Cheyenne
We’ll ride all day ’till the sun has gone down
Goodbye, old Paint, I’m a-leavin’ Cheyenne
I’m gonna be glad to get out of this town
Goodbye, old Paint, I’m a-leavin’ Cheyenne
Cheyenne, Cheyenne, I’m a-leavin’ Cheyenne
Cheyenne, Cheyenne, I’m a-leavin’ Cheyenne
________________________
Like a lot of old cowboy songs, composed on trail rides, the authorship – and thus the official lyrics – of this song are somewhat in question, with various people having been credited with its authorship, and different versions of the song having been produced, over time. However, historians are now in general agreement that Charley Willis, a Texas cowboy, trail rider, born a slave and freed at the end of the Civil War, is the author of this famous cowboy song. From Wiki:
“Goodbye Old Paint” is a traditional Western song that was created by black cowboy, Charley Willis. The song was first collected by songwriter, N. Howard “Jack” Thorp in his 1921 book Songs of the Cowboys. Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.
In writing about “Goodbye Old Paint”, Thorp wrote: “Heard this sung by a puncher who had been on a spree in Pecos City. He had taken a job temporarily as a sheep-rustler for an outfit in Independence Draw, down the river, and was ashamed of the job. I won’t mention his name.” Charley Willis, a former slave who became a cowboy and rode the Wyoming trail in the late 1800s, is now credited with authorship. Willis was in demand on cattle drives because his voice was reportedly calming to the herds.
Though folklorist John Lomax did credit Willis with the authorship of the song, Lomax never recorded a performance of the song by any black person. In spite of the somewhat-concealed history of the song, many people have been credited with writing it. In 1928, a newspaper in Amarillo, Texas reported that Texas cowboy fiddler Jess Morris had composed it. Apparently Morris’ arrangement had previously caught Thorp’s eye. Morris never claimed to have written the song, saying that he learned it from a black cowboy named Charley Willis. Western writer and singer Jim Bob Tinsley has said that credit for saving “Goodbye Old Paint” from being forever lost “…belongs to three Texans: a black cowboy (Willis) who sang it on cattle drives, a cowboy who remembered it (Jess Morris) and a college professor (Lomax) who put it down on paper.”
Texoso66.com (a blog about Texas) has more information about Charley Willis, HERE: I’ll include an excerpt below.
The song, “Goodbye Old Paint” was written by Texas cowboy Charley Willis who was born a slave around 1847 in Milam County, Texas. He became a free man after the Civil War and started working as a cowboy in Bell County, Texas. He was good at everything, including breaking wild horses. He also married his wife Laura, who is thought to be part Seminole and descended from the Black Seminole tribe that migrated to Texas from Mexico.
Charley was still a young man when he participated in his first trail drive in 1871 up the old Chisholm Trail from Texas to Wyoming. Willis became known for singing to quiet the easily spooked herds while on the trail. Cattle responded to church hymns and other songs, sometimes composed on the trail by the cowboys and in addition, singing helped the cowboys to pass the time during long hours in the saddle.
After one trip, Charley came home singing “Goodbye Old Paint,” though no one knows if Old Paint referred to his horse or just a name he selected for convenience. In his article in the book Black Cowboys of Texas, author Jim Chilcote says the song was documented by a college professor named John Lomax (John Avery Lomax, Sr.) recording a cowboy named Jess Morris (the son of the ranch owner, E. J. Morris for whom Willis worked) accompanying himself on the fiddle and singing the tune for the Library of Congress.
I’ve imbedded a recording of the song below:
There is a rich history of black cowboys in the American Old West that is no longer widely known or remembered. Thousands of slaves were used as cowboys prior to the Civil War and thousands more worked as cowboys in the decades after Emancipation. Many of these men and women became famous in their own time (Nat Love, Bill Pickett, Mary “Stagecoach Mary” Fields, Bose Ikard, John “The Texas Kid” Hayes, etc.) I hope that if the U.S. experiences a renewed interest in the Old West, thanks to the TV series Yellowstone, that some of these stories can finally be relayed to audiences.
Really interesting post. Although I have studied some American history this was new to me.
I grew up in the Great Plains of America and lived my early years on a cattle ranch, in the vicinity of where the Chisholm Trail cattle drives used to occur during the 19th century. A lot of the cowboy songs from that era are now kids’ songs, taught during music class in school. That’s how I learned this one originally. However, I had no idea about the personal story of the songwriter or about any of the surrounding history more generally until I was an adult. My guess is that this history is largely unknown to my parents’ generation, too. When I was doing research for this post, I saw someone else write that as many as one in four Texas cowboys may have been black in the years after Emancipation. I couldn’t find that confirmed anywhere else but the number makes some logical sense. That potential reality is so at odds with the way the history of that era is presented, that it blows my mind.
As someone who loves history, interesting people, and great stories generally, I really hope that this history and these stories become more widely shared.
Yeah I took a course on Country Music and it’s history and we learnt that about 1 in 5 cowboys was African-American. And I also learnt that some cowboy songs which were later turned into country songs originated from the African-American communities in the South. And some were originally slave songs. It’s actually so fascinating to learn about these things. But I guess it’s taught differently in the South (I studied it in Canada).
WP hid your last reply in my spam folder. I just found it.
That’s so interesting about the country music class you took. My guess is that if someone in the American South took a specific course on country music, he or she would learn more about the real history of the music. A general music education, though, does not include this information. Mine did not, at least. Anecdotally, I do not know many people who are aware of the percentage of cowboys who were black.
It makes you wonder how well the history taught today, from much farther back in time, reflects the actual reality.
Yeah WP does that sometimes.
I took some general musical history classes that weren’t as detailed but the country music one was fantastic and my professor really knew his stuff which I appreciated. It’s not always like that. I think there’s a huge number of people who assume that all cowboys are white.
My professors always told us to be careful when it came to history. Even when reading sources you need to remember that every single scholar has an agenda when they write something. A lot of history has actually been changed due to the way it was written about.
I think that was good advice from your professor.
Beautiful and sad.
It really is!