Who originally sang Home on the Range?

Q: What is the oldest cowboy song?

The pioneer song Home on the Range, written by Dr. Brewster M. Higley and set to music by Daniel Kelly in about 1874, not far from this railhead, was spread rapidly across the West in the 1870s by cowboys on cattle drives.

Q: What state song is Home on the Range?

In 1947, Home on the Range became the state song of Kansas.

"Home on the Range"
Song
Genre	Western folk song
Composer(s)	Daniel E. Kelley
Lyricist(s)	Brewster M. Higley

"Home on the Range" is a classic western folk song. It is sometimes called the "unofficial anthem" of the American West. The lyrics were first written by Dr. Brewster M. Higley of Smith County, Kansas. He wrote them in a poem called "My Western Home" in 1872.[1][2] In 1947, it became the state song of the U.S. state of Kansas.[1] In 2010, members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 western songs of all time.[3]

Índice Show

History[change | change source]
Lyrics[change | change source]
References[change | change source]
Other websites[change | change source]
Did Gene Autry sing Home on the Range?
What is the oldest cowboy song?
Who sang home?
What state song is Home on the Range?

History[change | change source]

In 1871, Higley moved from Indiana to Smith County, Kansas. He did this because of the Homestead Act. He lived in a small cabin near West Beaver Creek.[4] He was inspired by his new environment that he decided to create a poem to praise the prairie. The lyrics to "Home on the Range" were first published as a poem in the Smith County Pioneer in 1872 under the title "My Western Home".[5] That home is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Home on the Range Cabin.

The music was later added by Daniel E. Kelley (1808–1905), a carpenter and friend of Higley.[6] The song was eventually used by ranchers, cowboys, and other western settlers. It spread across the United States in different forms.[7] The song has gone by a few different names, the most common being "Home on the Range" and "Western Home".[8] It was officially chosen as the state song of Kansas on June 30, 1947. It is often thought of as the unofficial anthem of the American West.[8][9]

The most popular version of the song was the version recorded by Bing Crosby on September 27, 1933, with Lennie Hayton and his orchestra for Brunswick Records.[10] It appeared in the various charts of that time.[11]

"Home on the Range" became popular in the 1930s. In fact, former president Franklin Delano Roosevelt said "Home on the Range" was his favorite song.[12]

Lyrics[change | change source]

Dr. Brewster Higley (1876)[13]	William and Mary Goodwin (1904)	John A. Lomax (1910)[14]
Oh, give me a home where the Buffalo roamWhere the Deer and the Antelope play;Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,And the sky is not cloudy all day.ChorusA home! A home!Where the Deer and the Antelope play,Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,And the sky is not clouded all day.Oh! give me a land where the bright diamond sandThrows its light from the glittering streams,Where glideth along the graceful white swan,Like the maid in her heavenly dreams.ChorusOh! give me a gale of the Solomon vale,Where the life streams with buoyancy flow; On the banks of the Beaver, where seldom if ever,Any poisonous herbage doth grow.ChorusHow often at night, when the heavens were bright,With the light of the twinkling starsHave I stood here amazed, and asked as I gazed,If their glory exceed that of ours.Chorus I love the wild flowers in this bright land of ours,I love the wild curlew's shrill scream;The bluffs and white rocks, and antelope flocksThat graze on the mountains so green.ChorusThe air is so pure and the breezes so fine,The zephyrs so balmy and light,That I would not exchange my home here to rangeForever in azures so bright.Chorus	Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam,Where the deer and the antelope play;There seldom is heard a discouraging wordAnd the sky is not cloudy all day.ChorusA home, a homeWhere the deer and the antelope play,There seldom is heard a discouraging wordAnd the sky is not cloudy all day.Yes, give me the gleam of the swift mountain streamAnd the place where no hurricane blows;Oh, give me the park where the prairie dogs bark And the mountain all covered with snow.ChorusOh, give me the hills and the ring of the drillsAnd the rich silver ore in the ground; Yes, give me the gulch where the miner can sluiceAnd the bright, yellow gold can be found.ChorusOh, give me the mine where the prospectors findThe gold in its own native land;And the hot springs below where the sick people goAnd camp on the banks of the Grande.Chorus Oh, give me the steed and the gun that I needTo shoot game for my own cabin home;Then give me the camp where the fire is the lampAnd the wild Rocky Mountains to roam.ChorusYes, give me the home where the prospectors roamTheir business is always aliveIn these wild western hills midst the ring of the drillsOh, there let me live till I die.Chorus	Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam,Where the deer and the antelope play,Where seldom is heard a discouraging wordAnd the skies are not cloudy all day.ChorusHome, home on the range,Where the deer and the antelope play;Where seldom is heard a discouraging wordAnd the skies are not cloudy all day.Where the air is so pure, the zephyrs so free,The breezes so balmy and light,That I would not exchange my home on the rangeFor all of the cities so bright.ChorusThe red man was pressed from this part of the WestHe's likely no more to return, To the banks of Red River where seldom if everTheir flickering camp-fires burn.ChorusHow often at night when the heavens are brightWith the light from the glittering starsHave I stood here amazed and asked as I gazedIf their glory exceeds that of ours.ChorusOh, I love these wild flowers in this dear land of oursThe curlew I love to hear scream,And I love the white rocks and the antelope flocksThat graze on the mountain-tops green.ChorusOh, give me a land where the bright diamond sandFlows leisurely down the stream;Where the graceful white swan goes gliding alongLike a maid in a heavenly dream.Chorus

References[change | change source]

↑ 1.0 1.1 "Home on the Range - Kansapedia - Kansas Historical Society". Kshs.org. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
↑ International, Rotary (September 1955). "Home on the Range". The Rotarian: 40.
↑ Western Writers of America (2010). "The Top 100 Western Songs". American Cowboy. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014.
↑ "Kansas Historical Society: Home on the Range". Kansas Historical Society.
↑ Pulver, Florence (1946). "Re: Home on the Range". The Rotarian. 68 (2): 2–3, 54. Dr. Spaeth accepted this later Spaeth 1948, p. 205
↑ "Home on the Range". Kansas Historical Society.
↑ Spaeth, Sigmund Gottfried (1948). A History of Popular Music in America. New York: Random House. p. 205.
↑ 8.0 8.1 Silber, Irwin, ed. (1967). Songs of the Great American West. New York: Macmillan. pp. 221–223. OCLC 1268417.
↑ Harris, Cecilia (2014). "A Symbolic State: Home on the Range" (PDF). Kansas! Magazine. 2014 (Spring): 17–26, page 19. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
↑ "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved April 18, 2017.
↑ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Wisconsin: Record Research inc. p. 104. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
↑ "Historic Kansas cabin an elemental part of folk-song history | Wichita Eagle". 2011. Archived from the original on May 30, 2011. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
↑ Rees, Amanda (2004). The Great Plains region. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 219. ISBN 0313327335. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
↑ Lomax, John Avery (1920). Cowboy songs: and other frontier ballads. Macmillan. pp. 39, 40. Retrieved March 27, 2011.

Other websites[change | change source]

Lickteig, Steve (29 April 2002). "Home on the Range, Present at the Creation". NPR (National Public Radio). Archived from the original on 6 February 2007. "Home on the Range, Present at the Creation (audio clip)". NPR.org. NPR (National Public Radio).
McCool, John (25 May 2004). "Roam Is Where The Heart Is (Day in History: June 30, 1947)". Kansas History Online. Archived from the original on 21 June 2007.
(for additional history) "Kansas Sights: 'Home on the Range'". University of Kansas. Archived from the original on 12 July 2004.
Brewster Higley Ohio Historical Marker
Home on the Range Cabin, cabin near Athol, Kansas where the song Home on the Range was written.
The sheet music
free-scores.com

Did Gene Autry sing Home on the Range?

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard Enterprises Home On The Range · Gene Autry Gene Autry Sings Gene Autry And Other Favorites (Digitally Remastered) ℗ 2009 Essential Media Group LLC Released on: 2009-06-02 Screenplay Author: Traditional, arrangement by G.

What is the oldest cowboy song?

The pioneer song "Home on the Range," written by Dr. Brewster M. Higley and set to music by Daniel Kelly in about 1874, not far from this railhead, was spread rapidly across the West in the 1870s by cowboys on cattle drives.