I've Just Got in Across the Plains

DESCRIPTION: "I've just got in across the plains, I'm poorer than a snail, My mules all died but poor old Chip." The singer tells of his terrible troubles on the way to California, and warns those who would follow that gold is hard to find
AUTHOR: John A. Stone ("Old Put")? Enuel Davis?
EARLIEST DATE: c. 1854 (Put's Golden Songster)
KEYWORDS: travel hardtimes animal gold warning
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety, pp. 345-346, "I've Just Got in Across the Plains" ( 1 text)
Lingenfelter/Dwyer/Cohen-SongsOfAmericanWest, pp. 46-47, "Arrival of the Greenhorn" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #7775
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Emigrant from Pike" ("I've just arrived across the plains" lyric)
cf. "Jeanette and Jeanot" (tune)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
Miner's Song
Arrival of the Greenhorn
NOTES [106 words]: Belden-BalladsSongsCollectedByMissourFolkloreSociety mentions that this was written "on the California Trail around 1850 by Enuel Davis," who contributed other complaints about the trail to California. But in context, it appears possible that Davis was the transcriber or publisher. At least, the earliest publication was in Put's Golden Songster.
Roud assigns the same number to "I've Just Got In Across the Plains" (originally titled "Arrival of the Greenhorn") and "Emigrant from Pike," which is understandable since they start with almost the same words and refer to the same sort of situation, but they are in fact separate songs. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.6
File: Beld345

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