And the River Ran Red
AND THE RIVER RAN RED
By Rod Miller
Bitter wind cries out of moonless skies and canteens freeze to ice
Horses stagger on, seventy miles by dawn victory comes at a price
Drumbeats pound, songs resoundoff bluffs above river banks, a Warm Dance to bring an early spring,and send the Great Spirit thanks
And the river ran redrolling with bodies of the dead massacred on the banks of the River BearBlue-coated soldiers carried out killing orders thereand the river ran red
Hoofs test the edge of the bluff ledge to the banks of the Bear belowSplash freezes quick and the ice floats thickin the black of the river's flow
Before the sun, before night is donebrass bugles sound the attackIn Beaver Creek ravine rolled the killing machineand there was no turning back
And the river ran red rolling with bodies of the dead massacred on the banks of the River BearBlue-coated soldiers carried out killing orders thereand the river ran red
No surrender, no quarter, now blood forever stains her shorewith bayonet and gun when their work was doneThree hundred Shoshoni breathed no more
And the river ran red rolling with bodies of the dead
And the river ran red
Writer/s: JOSEPH CONSTANTINE HILL
