Roll on, Columbia

By Woody Guthrie
Melody based on "Goodnight Irene" by Huddie Ledbetter and John Lomax (John A. Lomax)
Rise Up Singing chapter: Farm and Prairie, p.57

Chords:
G D / - G / G C / D G
or, if you want:
G D / D7 G / G C / D G

Chorus:
Roll on, Columbia, roll on (2x)
Your power is turning our darkness to dawn
So roll on, Columbia, roll on

Verses:
Green Douglas firs where the waters cut through
Down her wild mountains and canyons she flew
Canadian Northwest to the ocean so blue
Roll on, Columbia, roll on

Other great rivers add power to you
Yakima, Snake and the Klickitat too
Sandy Willamette and Hood River too*
Roll on, Columbia, roll on

Tom Jefferson's vision would not let him rest
An empire he saw in the Pacific Northwest
Sent Lewis and Clark**, and they did the rest
Roll on, Columbia, roll on

It's there on your banks that we fought many a fight
Sheridan's boys in the blockhouse that night
They saw us in death, but never in flight
Roll on, Columbia, roll on

At Bonneville now there are ships in the locks
The waters have risen and cleared all the rocks
Shiploads of plenty will steam past the docks
So roll on, Columbia, roll on

And on up the river is the Grand Coulee Dam
The mightiest thing ever built by a man
To run the great factories and water the land
It's roll on, Columbia, roll on

These mighty men labored by day and by night
Matching their strenght 'gainst the river's wild flight
Through rapids and falls they won the hard fight
Roll on, Columbia, roll on

*Pronunciation of Willamette
**Lewis and Clark, Snake River, Columbia

And here's an article about the problem of sea lions eating endangered salmon by the aforementioned Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River.