Red River Valley (song)
"Red River Valley" is a folk song and cowboy music standard of uncertain origins that has gone by different names (such as "Cowboy Love Song", "Bright Sherman Valley", "Bright Laurel Valley", "In the Bright Mohawk Valley", and "Bright Little Valley"), depending on where it has been sung. It is listed as Roud Folk Song Index 756 and by Edith Fowke as FO 13. It is recognizable by its chorus (with several variations): Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time, ranked #10. Lyrics and  chords. Origins. According to Canadian folklorist Edith Fowke, there is anecdotal evidence that the song was known in at least five Canadian provinces before 1896. This finding led to speculation that the song was composed at the time of the 1870 Wolseley Expedition to Manitoba's northern Red River Valley. It expresses the sorrow of a local woman (possibly a "Métis") as her soldier lover prepares to return to the east. The earliest known written manuscript of the lyrics, titled "The Red River Valley", bears the notations "Nemaha 1879" and "Harlan 1885." Nemaha and Harlan are the names of counties  in Nebraska, and are also the names of towns in Iowa. The song appears in sheet music, titled "In the Bright Mohawk Valley", printed in New York in 1896 with James J. Kerrigan as the writer. The tune and lyrics were collected and published in Carl Sandburg's 1927 "American Songbag". In 1925, Carl T. Sprague, an early singing cowboy from Texas, recorded it as "Cowboy Love Song" (Victor 20067, August 5, 1925), but it was fellow Texan Jules Verne Allen's 1929 "Cowboy's Love Song" (Victor 40167, March 28, 1929), that gave the song its greatest popularity. Allen  himself thought the song was from Pennsylvania, perhaps brought over from Europe. Another important recording in this song's history was the 1927 Columbia Records master (15206-D) performed by Hugh Cross and Riley Puckett, under the actual title of "Red River Valley". This was the very first commercially available recording of this song under its most familiar title, and was the inspiration for many of the recordings that followed. Jimmie Rodgers wrote new lyrics titled "Dear Old Sunny South by the Sea", and recorded by himself in 1928. Recordings. "Red River Valley" has also been recorded by Roy Acuff , Arlo Guthrie, Lynn Anderson, the Andrews Sisters, Eddy Arnold, Moe Bandy, Suzy Bogguss, Johnny Bond, Boxcar Willie, Elton Britt, John Darnielle, Foster & Allen, Larry Groce, the McGuire Sisters, the Mills Brothers, Michael Martin Murphey, Johnnie Ray, Riders in the Sky, Riders of the Purple Sage, Tex Ritter, Marty Robbins, Jimmie Rodgers, Roy Rogers, Pete Seeger, the Sons of the Pioneers, Tex Morton, Billy Walker, Roger Whittaker, Cassandra Wilson, Glenn Yarbrough, James McMurtry and George Strait. TV appearances. 1962-63, Sung by Ken Curtis on his TV series, "Ripcord", with Harry Carey Jr. playing guitar. It was on one of two  guest appearances Carey made on the show (one in 1962, the other in 1963).