My name it is Joe Bowers, I've got a brother Ike

I'm just here from Missouri, and all the way from Pike

I'll tell you why I left there and why I came to roam

And leave my aged parents so far away from home

I used to court a girl there, her name was Sally Black

I asked her if she'd marry, she said it was a whack

She says to me, \"Joe Bowers, before we've hitched for life

You ought to get a little home to keep your littlе wife\"

Says I, \"My dearest Sally, oh Sally, for your sakе

I\"ll go to California and try and raise a stake\"

Says she to me, \"Joe Bowers, you're just the one to win\"

She gave me a kiss to seal the bargain and throwed a dozen in

I'll never forget my feelings when I bid adieu to all

Sal she cotched me around the neck, and I began to bawl

When I began they all commenced, you never heard the like

How they took on and cried and cried the day I left old Pike

When I got to this country, I had nary a red

I had such wolfish feelings, I wished myself most dead

But the thoughts of my dear Sally soon made this feeling git

And whispered hope to Bowers Lord, I wish I had 'em yet

At last I went to mining, put in my biggest licks

Come down upon the boulders just like a thousand bricks

I worked both late and early, in rain, in sun and snow

I was working for my Sally, 'twas all the same to Joe

One day I got a letter from my dear brother Ike

It came from old Missouri all the way from Pike

It taught me the darnedest news that ever you did hear

My heart it is a-breaking, so please excuse this tear

It said my Sal was false to me, that her love for me had fled

That she had gotten married to a butcher whose hair was red

It told me more than that, it's enough to make me swear

That Sal had had a baby and the baby had red hair

Now I told you everything about this sad sad affair

About Sally's marrying the butcher and the baby had red hair

But whether it was a boy or girl the letter never said

It only said the baby's hair was inclined to be red