Banks of the Sacramento is an American heaving shanty from the mid 20th century. This "gold-rush" shanty is an adaptation of Stephen Foster's well-known minstrel song Camptown Races, which was published in 1850:
Camptown ladies, sing dis song,
Doo da, Doo da!
Camptown race track five miles long,
Doo da, doo da day!
Ch: Gwine to run all night,
Gwine to run all day,
I'll bet my money on de bob-tailed nag,
Somebody bet on de bay!
Go down dar wid my hat caved in,
Come back home wid my pockets full ob tin.
De long-tailed filly and de big black hoss
Dey fly de track and dey both cut across,
De blind hoss stickin' in a big mud hole,
Can't touch bottom wid a ten-foot pole.
Old muley cow come out on de track,
De bob he fling her ober his back,
Den fly along like a railroad car
Runnin' a race wid a shootin'-star.
De sorrel hoss he's got a cough,
An' his rider's drunk in de old hay-lof'.
Dar's fo’teen hosses in dis race,
I'm snug in de saddle an' got a good brace,
De bob-tail hoss she can't be beat,
Runnin' around in a two-mile heat.
I win my money on de bob-tail nag,
An' carry it home in de old tow-bag.