Thanks, Sandy, quite a different song and worth posting. I like them both (the other one is already in the DT) for the powerful pictures they evoke.
But it is interesting to see the liberties the writer took: If you read about the tragedy in the webpages devoted to it, you find that it actually was a dark and stormy day with heavy rain, and not 'balmy'. The warning from a rider, however, is historic fact and also that many warnings were not taken serious by the population:
"According to the statements of people who lived in Johnstown and other towns on the line of the river, ample time was given to the inhabitants of Johnstown by the railroad officials and by other gentlemen of standing and reputation. in hundreds of cases this warning was utterly disregarded, and those who heeded it early in the day were looked upon as cowards, and many jeers were uttered by lips that now are cold." (from a book on the web).
The rider "both brave and bold" was Collins Graves. (from the same source:) 'John Boyle O'Reilly has
commemorated in graceful verse the splendid achievement of Collins Graves

"He draws no rein, but he shakes the street
With a shout and a ring of the galloping feet,
And this cry that he flings to the wind:
To the hills for your lives! The flood is behind!"

"In front of the roaring flood is heard
The galloping horse and the warning word.
Thank God! The brave man's life is spared!
From Williamsburg town he nobly dared
To race with the flood and take the road
In front of the terrible swath it mowed.
For miles it thundered and crashed behind,
But he looked ahead with a steadfast mind:
'They must be warned,' was all he said,
As away on his terrible ride he sped."

Wolfgang