Home on the Range - wikipedia Home on the Range This article is about the song. For other uses, see Home on the Range ( disambiguation ). hide This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. ( Learn how and when to remove these template messages ) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( March 2014 ) This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. ( March 2014 ) `` 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 sometimes called the `` unofficial anthem '' of the American West. The lyrics were originally written by Dr. Brewster M. Higley of Smith County, Kansas, in a poem entitled `` My Western Home '' in 1872. In 1947, it became the state song of the U.S. state of Kansas. In 2010, members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 western songs of all time. Contents 1 History 2 Modern usage 3 Major versions compared 4 References 5 External links History Dr. Brewster M. Higley, late 19th century In 1871, Higley moved from Indiana to Smith County, Kansas, under the Homestead Act. He lived in a small cabin near West Beaver Creek. He was so inspired by his new bucolic surroundings that he decided to create a poem in praise of the prairie. Thus, the lyrics to `` Home on the Range '' were originally published as a poem published in the Smith County Pioneer in 1872 under the title `` My Western Home ''. 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. Higley 's original words are similar to those of the modern version of the song, but not identical ; the original did not contain the words `` on the range ''. The song was eventually adopted by ranchers, cowboys, and other western settlers and spread across the United States in various forms. In 1925, the song was arranged as sheet music by Texas composer David W. Guion ( 1892 -- 1981 ), who occasionally was credited as the composer. The song has since gone by a number of names, the most common being `` Home on the Range '' and `` Western Home ''. It was officially adopted as the state song of Kansas on June 30, 1947, and is commonly regarded as the unofficial anthem of the American West. 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 which appeared in the various charts of the day. This turned a little - known saddle song into a most renowned western hymn. The origin of `` Home on the Range '' was obscure and widely debated at the time. It was published in 1910 in Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads by John Lomax, who said he learned it from a black saloonkeeper in Texas. In 1925 a sheet - music arrangement found some popularity, and in 1927 Vernon Dalhart recorded it for Brunswick Records. California 's radio cowboys picked it up from him, and in 1930 Hollywood 's first crooning western star, Ken Maynard, recorded the song. However, it was not until the Crosby version that the song was seen as a national anthem for the west. Its popularity led to a plagiarism suit that created a search for its background. Crosby 's rendition is described by the writer Gary Giddins as transforming `` a nostalgic lament into an ode to pioneering, a dream of shared history, a vaguely religious affirmation of fortitude in the face of peril ''. Giddins praises Crosby 's subtle embellishments, which enhance the melody. Modern usage Bing Crosby recorded the song again in 1938 and 1939. Frank Sinatra also recorded the song on March 10, 1946 ; his version was released in Great Britain and was not available in the United States until 1993. Others who have recorded the song include Connie Francis, Gene Autry, Burl Ives, Pete Seeger, Johnnie Ray, Slim Whitman, Steve Lawrence and Tori Amos. `` Home on the Range '' is often performed in programs and concerts of American patriotic music and is frequently used in plays and films. The song is also the theme opening music for the early Western Films starring Ray `` Crash '' Corrigan and his 2 co-stars under their movie roles as `` The Three Mesqueteers ''. It is also featured in the 1937 screwball comedy The Awful Truth ( sung by Irene Dunne and Ralph Bellamy ), the 1948 film Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House ( sung by both Cary Grant and Myrna Loy ), the 1967 off - Broadway musical You 're a Good Man, Charlie Brown ( sung by the cast as a glee club rehearsal number ), the 1980 film Where the Buffalo Roam ( sung by Neil Young over the opening credits ), the 2009 film The Messenger ( sung by Willie Nelson over the closing credits ), and the 1946 western film Colorado Serenade ( sung by actor Roscoe Ates ). A parody version is sung by villain Percival McLeach in the 1990 animated film The Rescuers Down Under. The song has naturally also made its way into screen shorts for children and adults, as in the 1954 Looney Tunes cartoon Claws for Alarm, where it is sung by Porky Pig. Likewise, Bugs Bunny sings the song in both The Fair - Haired Hare ( 1951 ) and Oily Hare ( 1952 ), the latter containing original lyrics specific to Texas oilmen. In the 2010 video game Fallout : New Vegas, a version of this song titled `` Home on the Wastes '' appears, with the lyrics referring to a nice, radiation - free place to live. In the altered lyrics, the original animals mentioned in the older versions, such as buffalo, deer, antelope, and prairie dogs, are replaced with bighorners, mole rats, fire geckos, and radscorpions. The song is also used in Wizards of Waverly Place, sung by the character Maxine in episode `` Back to max '', The Wild Kratts episode `` Prairie Who '' parodies the Song as `` Home On The Prairie '' which is sung by Chris, Martin, Aviva, Koki, And Jimmy. Major versions compared This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( March 2011 ) Home on the Range A recording of the song from Raiford Penitentiary, Florida, 1939. Problems playing this file ? See media help. Dr. Brewster Higley ( 1872, 1927, 1960 ) William and Mary Goodwin ( 1904 ) John A. Lomax ( 1910 ) Oh, give me a home where the Buffalo roam Where the Deer and the Antelope play ; Where seldom is heard a discouraging word, And the sky is not cloudy all day. Chorus Home, home on the range, Where the Deer and the Antelope play, Where seldom is heard a discouraging word, And the sky is not cloudy all day. Oh ! give me a land where the bright diamond sand Throws its light from the glittering streams, Where glideth along the graceful white swan, Like the maid in her heavenly dreams. Chorus Oh ! 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. Chorus How often at night, when the heavens were bright, With the light of the twinkling stars Have I stood here amazed, and asked as I gazed, If their glory exceeds 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 flocks That graze on the mountains so green. Chorus The air is so pure and the breezes so fine, The zephyrs so balmy and light, That I would not exchange my home here to range Forever 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 word And the sky is not cloudy all day. Chorus A home, a home Where the deer and the antelope play, There seldom is heard a discouraging word And the sky is not cloudy all day. Yes, give me the gleam of the swift mountain stream And the place where no hurricane blows ; Oh, give me the park where the prairie dogs bark And the mountain all covered with snow. Chorus Oh, give me the hills and the ring of the drills And the rich silver ore in the ground ; Yes, give me the gulch where the miner can sluice And the bright, yellow gold can be found. Chorus Oh, give me the mine where the prospectors find The gold in its own native land ; And the hot springs below where the sick people go And camp on the banks of the Grande. Chorus Oh, give me the steed and the gun that I need To shoot game for my own cabin home ; Then give me the camp where the fire is the lamp And the wild Rocky Mountains to roam. Chorus Yes, give me the home where the prospectors roam Their business is always alive In these wild western hills midst the ring of the drills Oh, there let me live till I die. Chorus Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam, And the deer and the antelope play, Where seldom is heard a discouraging word And the skies are not cloudy all day. Chorus Home, home on the range, Where the deer and the antelope play ; Where seldom is heard a discouraging word And 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 range For all of the cities so bright. Chorus The red man was pressed from this part of the West He 's likely no more to return, To the banks of Red River where seldom if ever Their flickering camp - fires burn. Chorus How often at night when the heavens are bright With the light from the glittering stars Have I stood here amazed and asked as I gazed If their glory exceeds that of ours. Chorus Oh, I love these wild prairies where I roam The curlew I love to hear scream, And I love the white rocks and the antelope flocks That graze on the mountain - tops green. Chorus Oh, give me a land where the bright diamond sand Flows leisurely down the stream ; Where the graceful white swan goes gliding along Like a maid in a heavenly dream. Chorus References Jump up ^ https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/home-on-the-range/17165 Jump up ^ International, Rotary ( September 1955 ). `` Home on the Range ''. The Rotarian : 40. Jump up ^ Western Writers of America ( 2010 ). `` The Top 100 Western Songs ''. American Cowboy. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014. Jump up ^ `` Kansas Historical Society : Home on the Range ''. Kansas Historical Society. ^ Jump up to : Pulver, Florence ( 1946 ). `` Re : Home on the Range ''. The Rotarian. 68 ( 2 ) : 2&ndash, 3, 54. Dr. Spaeth accepted this later Spaeth 1948, p. 205 Jump up ^ `` Home on the Range ''. Kansas Historical Society. Jump up ^ Spaeth, Sigmund Gottfried ( 1948 ). A History of Popular Music in America. New York : Random House. p. 205. Jump up ^ `` Kansas Historical Society : Home on the Range History ''. Kansas Historical Society. April 2017. ^ Jump up to : Silber, Irwin, ed. ( 1967 ). Songs of the Great American West. New York : Macmillan. pp. 221 -- 223. OCLC 1268417. Jump up ^ Harris, Cecilia ( 2014 ). `` A Symbolic State : Home on the Range '' ( PDF ). Kansas ! Magazine. 2014 ( Spring ) : 17&ndash, 26, page 19. Archived ( PDF ) from the original on 10 August 2014. Jump up ^ `` A Bing Crosby Discography ''. BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved April 18, 2017. Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel ( 1986 ). Pop Memories 1890 - 1954. Wisconsin : Record Research inc. p. 104. ISBN 0 - 89820 - 083 - 0. ^ Jump up to : Giddins, Gary ( 2001 ). A Pocketful of Dreams. New York : Little, Brown & Co. pp. 338 -- 339. ISBN 0 - 316 - 88188 -- 0. Jump up ^ `` A Bing Crosby Discography ''. BING magazine. Retrieved November 23, 2015. Jump up ^ Flatt, Christina. `` 10 of the Best Cowboy Songs ''. www.rtpr.com. Real Time Pain Relief. Retrieved 9 June 2016. External links 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 ( 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 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Home_on_the_Range&oldid=863206747 '' Categories : 1872 poems 1927 poems 1930 poems 1940 poems American folk songs American patriotic songs Burl Ives songs History of the American West Music of Kansas Symbols of Kansas United States state songs Western music ( North America ) Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from March 2014 All articles needing additional references Articles lacking in - text citations from March 2014 All articles lacking in - text citations Articles with multiple maintenance issues Articles needing additional references from March 2011 Articles with hAudio microformats Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Español 한국어 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Simple English Suomi Svenska 3 more Edit links This page was last edited on 9 October 2018, at 11 : 01 ( UTC ). 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Question: who wrote the words to home on the range
Answer: Dr. Brewster M. Higley