[Ads-l] "The Red River Valley" (song; antedating to 1879)

[Bonnie Taylor-Blake]

On Sun, Apr 20, 2025 at 10:17 AM Jonathan Lighter
<wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:

> OTOH, the Red River is prominent in Louisiana (there was even a Red River
> campaign during the Civil War). My own theory (i.e., SWAG) is that
> Speyerer was the author (of the lyrics, anyway), and that "Red River" was
> an obvious concretization for Louisianans (and Texans) of the vague "happy"
> valley.

Thanks, Jon. (I do think the prospects for a Canada-specific origin,
especially one tied to that campaign, are looking a little dim.)

Speaking of Texas (and you may have seen me post this elsewhere),
here's the version of the song in an October, 1887 issue of an Indiana
newspaper. An early one, it's missing a specific reference to the Red
River (either southwestern or northern), but it's the first I've seen
that includes a reference to a cowboy. (Canadian folklorist Edith
Fowkes had felt that early versions lacking "cowboy" argued against an
American origin.)

In that month the lyrics had just been found on the body of Amer
Green, a local accused of murder, who was lynched in Delphi, Indiana.

https://newspaperarchive.com/other-articles-clipping-oct-27-1887-5041076/

The unnamed reporter noted that "[o]n Amer's person was found a pocket
memorandum book" that contained several items. He continued, "But the
most interesting document [found there] was a poem, evidently written
to be sung, but probably not yet set to music, of which the following
is a true copy" [lyrics available at the clipping above].

"F.C. Hartman, June the 22, 1887" was appended at the end of the poem
and the reporter notes that "[t]his poem is in Amer's hand writing and
'Frank C. Hartman' is the name under which Green passed while in
Texas." (Green had been living in Texas for at least a few months
before he was returned to Delphi for the trial he never got.)


As I've posted elsewhere, I also have some anecdotal evidence that
forms of the song circulated in the American Midwest as early as 1881.

Here it is in Missouri:
https://www.newspapers.com/article/rolla-herald-bright-little-valley-red-r/170651900/.
Now, that’s a little weak, but note that this appeared before the
publication of the very different “A Bright Little Valley” (1883),
https://www.loc.gov/resource/music.musihas-100004512/?st=gallery.

And two snippets from Kansas in 1887 and 1888 show incorporation of
some of the lyrics into newspaper texts:
https://www.newspapers.com/article/osawatomie-graphic-bright-little-valley/170651998/,
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-olsburg-news-letter-remember-this-br/170652043/.

> Speaking of the Civil War, the earlier versions of the song "Hardtack [or
> "Hard Crackers"] Come Again No More" were known in the Union Army at that
> time.

Ah, thank you. (And, GO AMERICA.)

-- Bonnie

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