From the recording Buffalo Skinners

Graphically tells the story of the slaughter of the buffalo that went on after the Civil War. Government policy called for wiping out the vast herds in order to deprive the Indians of means of survival and to make way for the railroads. The song was originally a complaint about recruitment and conditions in lumber camps, called "Canada-i-o." It moved west with the settlers and became a different, more gripping, story.