On the banks of a leper white desert

The cattlemen claimed Tularosa

The farmer then fought with the herder

In the distance I stood with my father



He said, "Son I must bid you go hither,

For we've betrayed by our brothers

They have placed us between Tularosa

And a band of the dreaded Comanches"

"No father, I will not be parted

Like you I would walk as a warrior

I will take up the bow and the arrow

Side by side we will fight the Comanches"

"Son you must lay down your weapons

And walk down this pass with hands open

For there in the town Tularosa

We are known as the wicked Apaches

When you come to the gates of Tularosa

You must pray to the sky, desert, eagle

Then look into each eye with your kindness

And walk straight to eyes that reflect you

I will stay and watch on from this distance

Til I see you have reached Tularosa

Then I will turn my face to the Comanches

And I know they will not show me mercy"

So I walked down the hill and a farewell

Saved my tears til I faced Tularosa

And I held my head high like my father

A hard wind dried my face at the outskirts

As I walked down the road to Tularosa

The eagle I felt on my shoulder

I offered my prayer to the desert

As I stared through the fog of their hatred

There they stood in the sunset's warm halo

A woman holding hands with her daughter

And they called me from something inside them

So I answered and walked to their side

I made my home there with this family

And I worked with glad heart to repay them

For to walk alone never would they let me

To the angry crowds never betrayed me

And I came to be ready for marriage

With joy took the hand of the daughter

And we made our home there in Tularosa

And the sky blessed our house and our children

But I knew all but one had forgotten

The first day that I walked in Tularosa

For whenever the times that he passed me

He would still call out "wicked Apache!"

The day I was killed in the desert

I was gathering the fruit of a yucca

As they faced me they saw a man smiling

Left my body in white sands of gypsum

As my breath floated over the canyons

And o'er the mountains of Sierra Blanca

I remembered the pink desert flower

I remembered the cheeks of my sweetheart

I have seen a man shed blood for water

Offer gold to the sky for the rain

My people too prayed for three rivers

To visit our desert again
 
To my people they call the Apache

The desert is old holy dust

To the cattleman, Mexican, Yankee
The desert will do what it must

To my son I did not leave a rifle

Nor my daughter the dry Tularosa

To my killers I leave only wisdom

To the desert my blood and my bones

My blood and my bones

To the desert my blood and my bones