When I Went Off To Prospect
Air: King of the Cannibal Islands
Put's Original California Songster
Sacramento: Gardiner & Kirk, 1854
I heard of gold at Sutter's Mill,
At Michigan Bluff and Iowa Hill,
But never thought it was rich until
I started off to prospect.
At Yankee Jim's I bought a purse.
Inquired for Iowa Hill, of course,
And traveled on, but what was worse,
Fetched up in Shirt-tail Cañon.
Chorus:
A sicker miner every way
Had not been seen for many a day;
The devil it always was to pay,
When I went off to prospect.
When I got there, the mining ground
Was staked and claimed for miles around,
And not a bed was to be found,
When I went off to prospect,
The town was crowded full of folks,
Which made me think 'twas not a hoax;
At my expense they cracked their jokes,
When I was nearly starving.
Chorus:
A sicker miner evry way
Had not been seen for many a day;
The devil it always was to pay
When I went off to prospect.
I left my jackass on the road,
Because he wouldn't carry the load;
I'd sooner pack a big horn toad,
Whcn I went off to prospect.
My fancy shirt, with collar so nice,
I found was covered with body-lice;
I used unguentum once or twice,
But could not kill the grey-backs
Chorus:
A sicker miner every way
Had not been seen for many a day;
The devil it always was to pay,
When I went off to prospect.
At Deadwood I got on a tight—
At Groundhog Glory I had a fight;
They drove me away from Hell's Delight,
When I off to prospect.
From Bogus-Thunder I ran away—
At Devil's Basin I wouldn't stay;
My lousy shirt crawled off one day,
Which left me nearly naked.
Chorus:
A sicker miner every way
Had not been seen for many a day;
The devil it always was to pay,
When I went off to prospect.
Now all I got for running about,
Was two black eyes, and bloody snout;
And that's the way it did turn out,
When I went off to prospect.
And now I'm loafing around dead broke,
My pistol and tools are all in soak,
And whisky bills at me they poke—
But I'll make it right in the morning.
Chorus:
A sicker miner every way
Had not been seen for many a day;
The devil it always was to pay,
When I went off to prospect