Been snowin' all day when I got home
The fire was out, the cabin was cold
And I poured some stale coffee from the pot
The longer I waited, the snow got higher
So I split some wood and built a fire
She told me she'd be gone, I forgot

I'd seen it snow that hard before
I couldn't see the cabin from the stable door
And that mare she always rode, was in the stall
The law couldn't come till the weather broke
My heart was poundin' in my throat
And I searched and called her name till it was raw

I never should have brought her here
Livin' is hard this time of the year
Tryin' to keep food and fire till winter's done
Sometimes she gazed across the plains with a look that I couldn't name
And I'd wonder if she stay till springtime comes

I found her on the first warm day
The rain had washed the snow away
She'd gone for wood and lost her way back home
And I ain't the kind believes in ghosts but some nights I get pretty close
When the North Dakota winter moans
When the North Dakota winter moans