CALEB JOHNSON’S GOLD - Copyright 1998 by Dave Saunders
Published by Sgt Joe Music (BMI)
From the Dave Saunders CD “Uncle John’s Tree"
Available for purchase from www.cdbaby.com
                                                     www.nashvilleim.com

Up on Johnson’s Mountain lie the ashes of a cabin
That stood beside the roarin’ waterfall
And the secret that lies hidden in the cave behind the water
Is the price of stealin’ Caleb Johnson’s Gold

Every now and then old Caleb came down off his mountain
And laid a single golden nugget down
To pay for what he needed from Jesse Howard’s store
Then he’d pack it up and head back out of town

Jesse got to wonderin’ where Caleb found those nuggets
But there’s some things you don’t ask a man to tell
Then the Devil started whisperin’ to Jesse in his dreams
And before too long they knew each other well

One day on the mountain, while Jesse was out huntin’
He saw Caleb go behind the waterfall
And when he came back out again two mortal souls were doomed
‘Cause Jesse knew where Caleb got his gold

The people of the mountain never knew what really happened
The night they saw the flames light up the sky
And when they found old Caleb in the ashes of his cabin
They just figured that he’d died there in the fire

But everybody wonders why Jesse disappeared
Why he never came to open up the store
They don’t know about the hole inside the cave behind the water
Where the Devil came to claim poor Jesse’s soul

And up on Johnson’s Mountain lie the ashes of a cabin
That stood beside the roarin’ waterfall
And the secret that lies hidden in the cave behind the water
Is the price of stealin’ Caleb Johnson’s Gold