Wagons rolled out under darkened skies   The sun refused to shine   Four-hundred people full of hopes and dreams   In eighteen-forty-nine   They waved goodbye, women dried their tears   Young men hid their fears   They headed west, full of confidence   That their fortunes would appear      They packed a trunk full of china, a bible or two   A shotgun for Leroy, a pistol for Lou   A pretty dress for Sarah   And a hat for sister Fay   No one thought their greed for gold would change their lives someday      They headed west in eighteen-forty-nine   Sixty-one wagons, two miles long in a line   They headed west in eighteen-forty-nine      ------ guitar ------      March winds came, filled the sky with lightnin'   It rained all day and night   Old men died and backs were broken   As they set their wagons right   They crossed the mountains, came down to the sea   Sure that it would be   Gold and riches and a life of ease   But what they didn't see...      Was a trunk full of china all broken in two   A shotgun for Leroy that he used on Lou   A pretty dress for Sarah   That they used to bury Fay   No one thought their greed for gold would change their lives that way      They came for gold in eighteen-forty-nine   Sixty-one wagons, two miles long in a line   A promised land in eighteen-forty-nine   A promised land in eighteen-forty-nine   A promised land in eighteen-forty-nine