Legendary American folksinger, backcountry traveler, and wilderness advocate James "Walkin' Jim" Stoltz passed late Friday night, September 3, 2010, at St. Peter’s Hospital in Helena, Montana.

Stoltz, age 57, a veteran performer for 35 years, earned his nickname “Walkin’ Jim,” by hiking more than 27,000 miles through wild country in North America. Packing a guitar and penning extraordinary lyrics along the trails, Walkin’ Jim’s always-humble-yet-strikingly-powerful songs voiced enormous respect and appreciation for the Earth, its wild places, and the wild critters that he carefully studied and truly adored.

Daddy, what ever happened to the old buffalo,I know they don't roam here no more,
Because at school today, they say they've gone away,
But no one ever says just what for. Well now listen my son, I'll tell you how the West was won,How the herds fell to the big needle guns,
But, the ghosts of them herds still pound o'er the earth,
And, their Spirit is still on the run.Yes, their spirit is still on the run, it's the American dream movin' on,
Their memory is free, left to you and to me, and the Spirit is still on the run.

Daddy, what ever happened to the ol' grizzly bear, I know he once roamed the west wide, But at school today they say he's pushed back to stay, In the mountains where he has to hide. Well, now listen my son, I'll tell you about these proud ones, Where they stalk, all others walk small, But man to his shame, can't stand the untamed, And there's some that wouldn't have him at all.Yes, their spirit is still on the run, it's the American dream movin' on,
Their memory is free, left to you and to me, and the Spirit is still on the run.

Daddy, what ever happened to the big piney forests, And the prairies that stretched out like seas, Because the schoolbooks they say, these were all in the way, When the settlers come a-swarmin' like bees, Now, listen my son, yes, all these have gone, It's sad, but it’s not been in vain Their life’s blood was bought and with the Spirit it brought, A whole country was born into fame.

And all that have died or been swept to the side, They still give us hope every one, They give us dreams of the free, what has been and can be, And their Spirit is still on the run.

Yes, their Spirit is still on the run, it's the American dream movin' on,
Their memory is free, left to you and to me, and the Spirit is still on the run.