A western Pennsylvania mountain lion encounter song
Here are the lyrics and audio for "The Painter Cat," an original mountain lion folk song by Lannie Dietle, arranged with Irish folk-style music. This Appalachian tale, set on Big Savage Mountain in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, recounts young Lester Korns's harrowing nighttime horseback escape from a screaming painter cat (mountain lion) after a long day of helping neighbors butcher hogs. What a mountain adventure he had! Enjoy the free lyrics, streaming audio, and map of Lester's escape route below.
Lester loved horses all his life,
And I'm here to tell you why.
If it wasn't for his trusty horse,
Lester surely could have died.
Up on Big Savage Mountain,
Back that lonesome Rinker Road,
Lester went to help folks butcher,
And on a Belgian horse he rode.
Although he wasn't grow'd up yet,
He had experience with the job.
He rolled his sleeves up like the rest,
And they worked up several hogs.
Neighbors helpin' neighbors
Is how things worked in that day.
They wrote their time in notebooks,
An made the difference up with pay.
Now Lester, he was plum wore out
After cuttin' hogs up all day.
He wrapped his butcher knife in newsprint,
And on that big horse he rode away.
Rinker road was just two wagon ruts
That ran along Big Savage Mountain.
He knew his horse would get'm home,
On that there was no doubt'n.
It was long after darkness fell
As he rode on through the woods.
Then a painter cat began screamin'
And frightened Lester purdy good.
He spurred his horse into a run,
And unwrapped his butcher knife,
For If that painter caught up with them,
He'd be a fightin' for his life.
That horse, it ran and ran,
And then it ran a little more.
It ran right past the board yard,
And past the Troutman cabin door.
It galloped thru the Felty crossroad
And dashed down his father's lane.
One hand held the butcher knife,
The other clung to the horse's mane.
That horse brought Lester home,
And he galloped to the barn.
He was all hot and lathered up,
But he kept them safe from harm.
Lester loved horses all his life,
And now you know the reason why.
If it wasn't for his trusty horse,
He surely could have died.
Oh, if it wasn't for that trusty horse
Lester surely could have died.
Thoughts on this mountain lion song
"The Painter Cat" song was inspired by a panther story told by Lester Korns, who was born in 1909 and lived in Southampton Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. "Painter" is an old Appalachian colloquial name for a panther — otherwise known as a mountain lion, a cougar, or a puma. I elected to use the name "Painter Cat" in the song because it adds regional flavor and speaks to the Appalachian roots of the story.
I only know a few of the details of Lester's horseback panther encounter, which is described on page 194 of my 2024 book "In the Land of Used to Be." The rest of the lyrics are drawn from my imagination, my knowledge of the area, and Lester's lifelong love of horses.
This is a picture of 88-year-old Lester Korns (left) and Lannie Dietle (right) having a history discussion on July 19, 1998. Lester died on December 5, 1998 as a result of falling and breaking a hip one evening while walking between his house and barn in connection with feeding his horses.
A map of Lester's ride
The dots on the topographical map below correspond to the following locations in the song:
Red dot: Rinker Road (now Cabin Hill Road). Even as recently as the late 1960s, this road was nothing more than a set of wheel ruts passing through the woods.
Yellow dot: The place that was still called the Board Yard when I was growing up. It's the place where boards were stored for the 1800s Plank Road.
In the old days, one striking feature of Grandview Drive was the sharp turn at the abrupt crest of the hill above the Troutman cabin. That crest was formed by upturned rock strata that you had to traverse. If you were driving in the same direction as Lester's frightening ride home, the upturned strata caused the road to drop off so abruptly at the turn that you had to go very slowly to avoid undercarriage damage — and because you could scarcely see where you were going, or see if anyone was coming in the opposite direction.
This map has been marked up to show the places described in the regional Irish folk song "The Painter Cat." Red is Rinker Road, Yellow is the Board Yard, Green is the Troutman log cabin, Cyan is the Felty crossroad, and orange is where Lester lived.
Additional Appalachia-inspired songs
Now that you've heard my mountain lion folk song, here are some other Appalachia-inspired songs to check out:
The song is available to stream and download for personal use and radio air play at no cost. For commercial use, such as performing or recording covers of the song, contact me to discuss licensing terms.
L. Dietle
My dad's mountain lion story
My dad, born in 1932, had his own Somerset County, Pennsylvania mountain lion story. As a youth, he liked to peddle over to Sam Baer's rural feed store on Warren's Mill Road to watch movies that Sam played on a sheet — a long bike ride away. He told me that one night after a movie, he was peddling home on White Oak Hollow Road when a mountain screamed near the edge of the road. He said it sounded like a woman screaming. That sound encouraged him to pedal homeward a whole lot faster!
Now I wasn't there, and I can't swear that Lester and my father actually encountered mountain lions or if they heard the scream of some other animal instead — but I do know they truly believed they encountered mountain lions. Both men were as honest as the day is long, and neither one was prone to telling tall tales.
This picture shows my father Roy Dietle with the bicycle he would have been riding at the time of the mountain lion encounter he described to me. In the picture, he is dressed up in his Sunday best, and his little brother Ralph is sitting on the saddle. Back then, many bicycles had sprung forks and balloon tires to accommodate the rough dirt roads they were driven over. The farm where dad grew up was about 6.3 road miles from the farm where Lester lived.
