Come, you children of the pioneers,
And join me in their praise;
et us shout three rousing cheers,
To awake the memory of their frays.
Our fathers, they came to the land
Of redskins and buffalo,
And took a firm, steadfast stand,
To rid the country of its foe.
Some were settlers, others were scouts,
All aiming to build up the frontier
And run the redskins out,
Who were scalping all, far and near.
They suffered privations and hardships,
These stronghearted men of the wild,
As they made their many trips
Over the prairie, but not once defiled.
Though unseen dangers hovered near,
On open plains or in mountains high,
They bravely pushed forward with a cheer,
Determined to conquer the West or die.
When the Indian massacres were spreading,
And the frontier was flooded with untold fears,
And all the settlers were dreading
The oncoming bloodstained years,
Governor Evans realized the vast need
Of defense and protection on the border;
So Colonel Chivington bravely took the lead,
And marched his band out in perfect order.
Just a hand full of volunteers
Marched out to defeat or victory.
One aim had these brave pioneers,
‘Twas to save this western country.
They did not march to fife and drum,
In grand military array,
With bayonets flashing in the sun,
Or waving colors bright and gay,
But valiantly kept step to the rhyme
Of aching hearts and thoughts of those
That fell victims to the bloody crime
Of the savages the settlers’ worst foe.
They marched ‘neath the standard of right,
These volunteers brave and true,
And fought with all their might
To win a home, my friends, for you.
They chased those bloodthirsty red devils
That had covered the West with blood and tears ;
They ran them on the hills and levels,
Like the redskins had once done the pioneers.
Only a few of them now remain
To see the outcome of their deeds;
The growth of their once barren plain
That now supplies all our needs.
We owe to Chivington and his band
A debt we can never repay,
For taking their brave, firm stand,
Thus starting our West of today.
The West of grandeur and wealth,
With its schools and enterprises,
The West of good cheer and health,
And many other glad surprises.
Reverence to the memory of those years
Of struggles and sorrows on the frontier
Gratitude in our hearts for the Volunteers
And our forefathers, the Pioneers.
Some of the Pioneers of Colorado
Source: True History of some of the Pioneers of Colorado, by Miss Luella Shaw, Press of Carson Harper Co, Denver, Colorado, 1909