Dead south of the PyramidMountains is a hamlet many fear—
'Twixt Soldier's Farewell and DoubtfulCanyon – the ghost town of Shakespeare.
They say Curly Bill Brocius rises up amid hot sulfur flame
From the Shakespeare store basement as he bellows his own fleeting name.
Gut-shot by Wyatt Earp, he crawled dying to that general store—
Old-timers swear they hear him laughing when wind stops and blows no more.
The town started in New Mexico; a waterhole for Apache—
But it changed its name quite often in its long, deadly history.
A man with some literary fancy named the town after Will—
As outlaws, gamblers and cowboys came with more than time to kill.
Billy the Kid washed dishes at the Stratford Hotel in his youth—
The tumbledown old building still stands - a testament of the truth.
Beanbelly Smith once ordered him an egg but none was ever sent—
Then when one came to someone else, he ate it up and shot the gent!
It seemed handsome Arkansas Black had his way with a miner's wife—
So they hung him from the rafters, intent upon taking his life.
But then they recalled how much they liked having Arkansas around—
So they quickly cut him down and ran the miner and wife from town!
Then there was Russian Bill, with cigar and outlaw ways on his lip—
Who rode up like some friend of Curly's, who shot off his cigar tip!
But Russian Bill was not deterred; he had to prove himself, of course—
And in the Grant House Saloon rafters he hanged for stealing a horse!
Yet the other Bill, Curly Brocius, went on to another fate—
Making his legend in Tombstone for his drunkenness, death and hate.
They say Curly Bill Brocius rises up amide hot sulfur flame
From the Shakespeare store basement as he bellows his own fleeting name.
Gut-shot by Wyatt Earp, he crawled dying to that general store--
Old-timers swear they hear him laughing when the wind stops and blows no more.
Dead south of the PyramidMountains is a hamlet many fear—
'Twixt Soldier's Farewell and DoubtfulCanyon – the ghost town of Shakespeare.
Originally Posted On Site: 2009-10-27 15:22:39
Last Login: 03.02.10
Visits as of 12-12-07: 209
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