Santa Fe Trail, The

DESCRIPTION: The singer asks, "Say, pard, have you sighted a schooner Way out on the Santa Fe Trail?" In the company is "A little tow-headed gal on a pinto" whom he very much wishes to see. He describes her, though he will not give her name
AUTHOR: Words: James Grafton Rogers/Music: J. H. Gower
EARLIEST DATE: 1911 (sheet music)
KEYWORDS: cowboy travel separation
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Ohrlin-HellBoundTrain 85, "'Longside of the Santa Fe Trail" (1 text, 1 tune)
Cohen-AmericanFolkSongsARegionalEncyclopedia2, p. 548, "The Santa Fe Trail" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Powder River Jack and Kitty Lee's _Songs of the Range: Cowboy Wails of Cattle Trails_, Chart Music, 1937, pp. 28-29, "The Santa Fe Trail" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5096
RECORDINGS:
Jules [Verne] Allen, "Longside The Santa Fe Trail" Victor V-40118, 1929; Montgomery Ward M-4344, 1933; Montgomery Ward M-4780, 1935; on WhenIWas1)
Bill Bender (The Happy Cowboy), "Santa Fe Trail" (Elite X16, n.d.; rec. 1939)
Glenn Ohrlin, "Santa Fe Trail" (on Ohrlin01)
Art Thieme, "The Santa Fe Trail" (on Thieme03)
The Westerners [Massey Family], "Santa Fe Trail" (Perfect 6-03-58/Melotone 6-03-58, 1936)
NOTES [63 words]: Although the sheet music of this piece was published in 1911, it seems that almost every version in tradition (even pop tradition) derives from Jules Verne Allen's 1929 recording.
There was another pop song, "Along the Santa Fe Trail," words by Al Dubin and Edwina Coolidge, music by Will Grosz, used in the movie "Santa Fe Trail" and sung by Big Crosby. It's not the same. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.5
File: Ohr085

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