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The Hardest Mile Lyrics
I'm heading for a life in the land of the free
Sending every penny home to the family
Off to find fortunes that can't be bought
Now Paddy's struck down from a single shot
They lured the men away they promised wealth and riches
A thousand miles from home laying steel and digging ditches
The work would be a challenge nary a soul could stand the trial
These wayfaring boys built the railways toughest mile
Fifty-seven men on the hardest mile
Murdered for their troubles, left to die
Immigrant sons from Donegal, Tyrone, and Derry
Their numbers were few but they did the job of many
Eight weeks went by and the path was clear
Fifty-seven men had all disappeared
Not a mention of their name no stone was ever turned
It would be so many years before the truth was ever learned
Fifty-seven men on the hardest mile
Murdered for their troubles, left to die
Immigrant sons from Donegal, Tyrone, and Derry
Their numbers were few but they did the job of many
Now ghosts dance a jig on an unmarked grave
A slug full of lead was the price they were paid
Vigilante justice, prejudice and pride
No one in this valley will be seen again alive
Fifty-seven men on the hardest mile
Murdered for their troubles, left to die
Immigrant sons from Donegal, Tyrone, and Derry
Their numbers were few but they did the job of many
Sending every penny home to the family
Off to find fortunes that can't be bought
Now Paddy's struck down from a single shot
A thousand miles from home laying steel and digging ditches
The work would be a challenge nary a soul could stand the trial
These wayfaring boys built the railways toughest mile
Murdered for their troubles, left to die
Immigrant sons from Donegal, Tyrone, and Derry
Their numbers were few but they did the job of many
Fifty-seven men had all disappeared
Not a mention of their name no stone was ever turned
It would be so many years before the truth was ever learned
Murdered for their troubles, left to die
Immigrant sons from Donegal, Tyrone, and Derry
Their numbers were few but they did the job of many
A slug full of lead was the price they were paid
Vigilante justice, prejudice and pride
No one in this valley will be seen again alive
Murdered for their troubles, left to die
Immigrant sons from Donegal, Tyrone, and Derry
Their numbers were few but they did the job of many
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
This song tells the true story of a group of Irish immigrants, who, like many others from their country, built railroads in America during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The 57 men mentioned here had worked on the most treacherous mile of a rail, and because the conditions were so rough, the rail company claimed that the men died from natural causes while building it.
Years later, claims surfaced that the rail company simply did not want to pay the workers for the job they did and murdered them instead. Several of the bodies where exhumed and were each found to have bullet holes in their skulls.
"The Hardest Mile" refers to a stretch of track on the Pennsylvania Railroad (then the Philadelphia & Colombia), about 30 miles east of Philadelphia in Chester County, Pennsylvania, known as Duffy's Cut. 57 Irish immigrants were hired for 25 cents a day to build the section of track in 1832. All 57 of these men later died. The official explanation given by the railroad was that they died of cholera, but recent archaeological work on the site shows that at least seven of them were murdered.