Opening the West

And the shining Rocky Mountains looked down on the people coming Strong and sturdy freedom lovin' settlers cowboys pioneers Now no foreign crown would rule them Now a nation strong was standing even bigger was it growing Added Iowa, Wisconsin then broke through the shining mountains Staked a claim on California Panned the gold out of its rivers irrigated desert valleys Oregon, Minnesota, Kansas now were added to the total Making 34 to number of the States now in the Union And the years 1860 to 65 the history books're full of it The sadness the heartbreak and the songs of that period Tell us of a sadness and of a heartbreak when the nation was torn asunder