The Prairie-Schooner

A ''praire-schooner'' is a covered wagon. Above are
children playing with their version, a rocking horse
and tent make a great imaginary toy!

 The Prairie-Schooner
Picture and Verse by Charles S. Chapman

I was an Indian Chieftain,

Head of a warlike band;

She drove a prairie-schooner

Out on the desert land.

I was the first to sight her,

And lead the wild attack;

I carried her off to the mountains,

Far from the beaten track.

There in my tent, a captive,

Bound hand and foot she lay

Till she promised me my squaw she'd be

In the far-off time, "Some Day."

Now, as I look from my window,

Our children's children play

In the same old prairie-schooner,

In the same old tireless way.

Though the drivers may be many,

And each of them fair and tall,

I know that the first fair driver

Was lovelier than them all.

And I wonder, as I watch them

Playing the new-old game,

Beginning in jest, as we once began,

Will the ending be the same?