Poem of the Week
September 25 & October 2, 2006
Song of the Sons of Colorado
Pike's Peak Centennial
By
James Barton Adams
There was a man named Zebulon Pike,
There was! There was!
Across the Great Plains he did hike,
He did! He did!
The sun was fierce, the plains were parched,
Yet fearlessly he onward marched,
For Z. Pike, E-squire wasn't a tenderfoot,
O nay, nay, Pauline, he wasn't a tenderfoot.
CHORUS
Heigh-ho-O Heigh-ho-O!
Johnny, fill up the bowl.
Now Zebulon was distinguished a few,
He was! He was!
'Twas he who discovered Pike county, Missoo,
It was! Sure was!
Yes, 'twas he who discovered Pike county, Mo.,
And also Ike Bowers and his brother Joe,
And then he blew West on a tour of dis-cov-er-ee,
Blew away out West on a tour of dis-cov-er-ee.
CHORUS
A peak upon his vision burst,
It did! It did!
And Zeb he hollered: "I saw it first!"
He did! He did!
And the old peak shook its big bald head,
And stroked its long pine whiskers and said:
"O, me! O, my! I am dis-cov-er-ed!
At last, at last, I am dis-cov-er-ed!"
CHORUS
Down at its base Z. Pike did stop,
He did! He did!
And swore no man could reach its top,
Up there! 'Way up!
He little dreamed that burro jacks
With tourist maidens on their backs
Would some day straddle and carry their packs astride,
Would climb that old peak with girlies that rode astride.
CHORUS
He left the peak right where 'twas found,
He did! Sure did!
It was too heavy to tote around,
It was! It was!
Regret bored into him good and strong
Because he couldn't take it along,
And away back--over the track--Zebulon skid-dood,
Away back--over the track--Zebulon skid-dood
[over]
Yes, the Sons of Colorado did go to Springs for the Pike Centennial. What happened in Springs is a little clouded.
On the night of September 26th, the Sons were scheduled to sing at Colorado College as part of a larger program that included learned lectures and patriotic songs.
You can't but think that the Sons had hoped to sing at the daytime dedication of the marker or the monument.
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