The Tobasco Donkeys

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Their 1999 album Sawin' on the Strings
Background information
Origin	Philmont Scout Ranch, Cimarron, New Mexico
Genre(s)	Country, Folk, Bluegrass
Occupation(s)	Philmont staff members
Members
Mike Griffis, Alex Ave Lallemant, Trish Dailey, Andy Gerhart, Eric Voss, Bob Brown, Reid Tempelton, "Dirty" Larry, Peter Bingen, Ron Power

The Tobasco Donkeys are a band composed of staff members from the Boy Scouts of America's Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. Their sole album, Sawin on the Strings, was recorded in 1999. The CD is still sold by the Philmont trading post, both at the camp and through their catalog.

[edit] Track listing

Sawin' On The Strings
Fire on the Mountain
Shady Grove
Paradise
Foggy Mountain Breakdown
Friend Of The Devil
Lewis And Clark
Coal Tattoo
Night Rider's Lament
Colfax County Jail
Ugly Girl
Georgetown
Catfish John
Reason To Believe
Sweet Pea
The Weight
Theme Time
The Ballad Of Billy The Kid
I Don't Mind
Ashokan Farewell

[edit] I Don't Mind

"I Don't Mind" is a poem, later a song, written by Peter Bingen while working at Cypher's Mine in Philmont Scout Ranch. The song was later recorded by the The Tobasco Donkeys and has since become a part of Philmont culture and Scouting culture in general.

The first part of the song is simply a poem, glorifying the outdoors and the Philmont lifestyle and landscape, set to music; as a consequence, the words do not fit the rhythm particularly well, giving guitarists attempting to perform the song some difficulty. The second part ("Just one final paragraph of advice ...") is adapted from an essay by Edward Abbey on outdoorsmanship. The song's 'punchline' is its final lyric, shouted rather than sung: "You'll outlive the bastards!"

The song appears in Philmont campfires almost every year and has become an anthem of the conservationist movement, but despite its performance to thousands of Scouts annually, it remains obscure outside of Scouting and backpacking circles.