Tecumseh Valley

The name she gave was Caroline

The daughter of a miner

And her ways were free and it seemed to me

The sunshine walked beside her

She comes from Spencer across the hill

She said her pa had sent her

Because the coal was low and soon the snow

Would turn the skies to winter

She said she'd come to look for work

She was not seeking favors

For a dime a day and a place to stay

Ah, she could turn them hands to labor

Ah, but times were hard and jobs were few

All through Tecumseh Valley

But she asked around and the job she found

Tending bar for Gypsy Sally

She saved enough to get back home

When the spring replaced the winter

But her dreams were denied, her pa had died

The word had come down from Spencer

She took to whoring out on the streets

With all the lust inside her

Many a man returned again

Just to lay himself beside her

They found her down beneath the stairs

That lead to Gypsy Sally's

In her hand when she died was a note that cried

"Fare thee well, Tecumseh Valley"