Linda Allen - Overland, 1852 Lyrics
My name is Emma Logan, and I come from TennesseeIt's there I spent my childhood with my friends and familyI married young John Logan back in 1844That day he promised Pa I'd never go far from his doorThe children came so quickly, but my Ma was so close byShe'd help out with the births, and then she'd hold 'em whenthey'd cryI thought my life was settled 'til the day John said to me"Pack the wagon, woman. We are leaving Tennessee"He had a notion to go West, he was the restless sortAnd Lord knows, land was cheap, and our money always shortBut I cried the day he told me, and I begged for us to stayHe only said, "We're goin'. It's best we don't delay".'Twas in the Spring of '52 that we left TennesseeLeaving my dear mother who I never more will seeAnd my friends, I thought my heart would break to leave them allbehindFor my husband's great adventure, his fortune for to findFor two months we had travelled--and half our oxen deadOur wagon bein' slow the others chose to go aheadI measured each day's progress by the miles and by the gravesAnd the fear that gripped my heart I will remember all my daysThe baby came in August in a cold Sierra stormWe huddled in the cold and wet and waited for the mornHow I longed for women's company, a woman's tender careNext morning early we moved out, to rest we did not dareMy sweet baby Sierra was the first child that did dieWe laid her in the hard-baked earth, and I too weak to cryThen cholera took my oldest boy - his sister, AnnabelleFell out of the wagon and was crushed beneath the wheelsHalf my children gone and the winter comin' onWe came to California nearly starved, our money goneJohn went to pan for gold and soon forgot the kids and meAnd now I take in washin' and I curse his memoryNow if your husband tells you, load the wagons, you must goTo seek your fortune in the West, my dear, you must not goBut remember what I've told you lest your fate be like my ownMake your own choice. Let him go. You're better off alone
