Ballad of Dude
The mountain had given its lava,
it had given its rocks and its steam
The mud flows had gone north to Burney
It was over by 1918.
It stood as a blatant reminder
that the Earth had a temper within
And it left on the summit a crater
with a fragile and crumbling rim.
In Oakland the Boy Scouts had waited
until Lassen was cool and subdued.
Then they packed up their rucksacks of canvas
and they followed a leader named Dude.
They were determined to climb it
They were strong, they were young they were sure
But there were no trials up the mountain
So, they bushwhacked through forests of fir.
Climb high you boys from the city
Higher and higher still
It’s just you and that old volcano
And a test of your will!!
The first night for troupe 97
The vitriol hung in the air
Smelled just like fire and brimstone
There was nothing alive anywhere.
In the morning the mountain was distant
As they laced up their thick leather boots
Then Dude hollered down from a ridgetop
And was met with a chorus of hoots.
They came to a valley of mud pots
Sulphur was all they could smell.
There were bubbling geysers and steam vents
There were no trails through old Bumpass Hell.
So, he carefully guided them through it
And they wisely avoided the crust
And the world was just ashes on ashes
The ground was just dust upon dust.
Climb high you boys from the city
Higher and higher still
It’s just you and that old volcano
And a test of your will
They climbed up to 9500
Over rocks that were new to the air.
The altitude challenged the breathing
Every step taken with care.
They made it at last to the crater
And looked to the darkness below
A jumble of rocks newly minted
As the steam vents continue to blow.
Dude had a lot on his shoulders
As he led those boys over and up.
The young men from Troup 97
And he trusted it wouldn’t erupt.
Then he brought them home safe to their families
The adventurous stories ensued.
Courage is modeled and carried
In the heart of a leader named Dude.
He was my mothers father
And he left us when I was sixteen
Now I live at the foot of Mount Lassen
How I wish I could ask what he’d seen.
But his spirit runs in my children
They are adventurous ones
They are curious strong and courageous
Oh the blood lines of daughters and sons.
Climb high you boys from the city
Higher and higher still
It’s just you and that old volcano
And a test of your will
Climb high you boys from the city
Higher and higher still
It’s just you and that old volcano
And a test of your will
Written by Sara Hoxie. Song appeared on the album Prayer for Feather River.
