Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE OLD BUFFALO TRAIL, by ISABEL ANDERSON


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE OLD BUFFALO TRAIL, by                    
First Line: On the old buffalo trail, I'm glad this autumn day
Last Line: O, buffalo trail, what legends and what marvels you could tell!
Subject(s): Autumn; Native Americans; Roads; Seasons; Fall; Indians Of America; American Indians; Indians Of South America; Paths; Trails


On the Old Buffalo Trail, I'm glad this autumn day
That I'm alive to see the sun and frost-nipped leaves' array,
To drink the sparkling water as it bubbles from the spring,
And far-off hear ghost-horses' hooves sharp on the pebbles ring.
O, Old Buffalo Trail, I'd dearly like to hear your story
Of men who went to blaze the way, and men who went to glory,
As Indians burned and massacred and sought to keep the West,
While plundering long caravans of pioneers at rest.

Do you recall, Old Buffalo Trail, one hundred summers after,
How Southern beaux and Southern belles, with dancing and with laughter,
With languor and with loving and with moonlit rendezvousing
Walked your paths beneath the moon and carried on their wooing?

Now all is changed. There dwell among your blue and smoky hills
A race of hardy moonshiners who operate their stills,
And sell their corn to Northern folk, who've come here to get well.
O, Buffalo Trail, what legends and what marvels you could tell!





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