The Tobasco Donkeys

The Tobasco Donkeys are a band composed of staff members from the Boy Scouts of America's Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. Their first 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. The majority of a new album was recorded in July 2007; it was released as The Yarn Sessions May 3, 2008 through the band's website.

The song "Lewis and Clark" from Sawin on the Strings was featured in a Ken Burns documentary about Lewis and Clark.

Sawin on the Strings

#"Sawin' On The Strings" (Jimmy Martin)
#"Fire on the Mountain" (Marshall Tucker Band)
#"Shady Grove" (traditional)
#"Paradise" (John Prine)
#"Foggy Mountain Breakdown" (traditional)
#"Friend of the Devil" (Robert Hunter, Jerry Garcia)
#"Lewis And Clark"
#"Coal Tattoo" (Billy Edd Wheeler)
#"Night Rider's Lament" (Mike Burton)
#"Colfax County Jail" (Front Range)
#"Ugly Girl" (Flatwoods String Band)
#"Georgetown" (Gary Spehar)
#"Catfish John" (Bob McDill, Alan Reynolds)
#"Reason To Believe" (Bruce Springsteen)
#"Sweet Pea" (Peter Bingen)
#"The Weight" (The Band)
#"Theme Time"
#"The Ballad of Billy the Kid" (Bob Dylan)
#"I Don't Mind" (Bingen)
#"Ashokan Farewell" (Jay Ungar)

The Yarn Sessions

#"Pig in a Pen"
#"Salty Dog"
#"The Mountain"
#"Tooth of Time (Been Chewin' On Me)"
#"Sixteen Tons"
#"Monkey and the Engineer"
#"Ol' Slewfoot"
#"Gold Minin' Man"
#"Orange Blossom Special"
#"Don't Pet The Dog"
#"The Fly That Rode to Cito"
#"Ice Cream Man"
#"The 5th of July"
#"Am I Born to Die?"
#"New Mexico Rain
#"Poor Wayfaring Stranger"
#"How Mountain Girls Can Love"
#"The Ballad of Wagon Wheel"
#"The Hills That I Call Home"
#"Great High Mountain"
#"August Day"
Bonus Tracks:
#"I've Been Everywhere"
#"Comin' On Strong (At Philmont)"

I Don't Mind
"I Don't Mind" is a poem, later a song, written by Peter Bingen while working as a Conservationist near Thunder Ridge in Philmont Scout Ranch. "I Don't Mind" was one of many original songs written for "Trail: The Rock Opera", first performed by the staff of Cyphers Mine in 1997. The song was later recorded by the The Tobasco Donkeys and has since become a part of Philmont lore and Scouting culture in general.

The first part of the song glorifies the outdoors, and the Philmont lifestyle and landscape. The words do not fit the rhythm particularly well, giving guitarists attempting to perform the song some difficulty. The second part of the lyrics("Just one final paragraph of advice ...") are adapted from a speech 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 every year and has become an anthem to those who live, work, and experience the great outdoors. Despite its performance to thousands of Scouts annually, it remains obscure outside of Scouting and backpacking circles. Philmont staff members frequently refer to this song as the "Backcountry hymn", as it describes the feelings and experiences of daily living in the mountains at Philmont.

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