Here’s to you, Johnny Evans
You traveled west before the rest
To see if it was true
If Welsh was spoken way out there
Amongst the Blackfoot, Crow, and Sioux
You didn’t know, How could you know
The help that you would be
In opening up a great big part
Of being such a great big part
Of American history

John left his home in northern Wales
And ventured west to see if tales
He’d heard when he was young were true
Of Madoc’s heirs amongst the Sioux He almost died before that trip
To the wild west and Mississip
When he was captured, set to die
Accused of being a British spy

But friends obtained his quick release
His reputation fast increased
Then one fine day, luck came his way
In the form of the Scotsman, John McKay

By John H Thomas Jr

No heroes’ lives could ere compare
To this bold and bawdy British pair
They traveled, mapped, and tamed the land
But all too soon fate took a hand
Johnny’s life cut short in time
The short cut age of twenty-nine

When Jefferson had men embark
On that fateful trip with Lewis and Clark
It was Evan’s map they took along
To show them lands that now belong
To a proud, new nation born in blood
But moving swift toward brotherhood

Here’s to you, young Johnny Evans
You traveled west before the rest
To see if it was true
If Welsh was spoken way out there
Among the Blackfoot, Crow, and Sioux

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