On Red River Shore- Parks (OK) c.1890 Dobie
[First published in Man, Bird, and Beast a publication Texas Folklore Society, Volumes 5-7 by Stith Thompson, James Frank Dobie - 1926. Collected in 1925, Dobie says that it is thirty-five years older, making the date c. 1890. He also says, "as far as I know it has never before appeared in print."
R. Matteson 2014]
On Red River Shore- taken from J. E. Wilburn and Joe Parks, Lawton County, Oklahoma, collected Dobie, 1925.
At the foot of yon mountain where the fountain doth flow,
The greatest creation, where the soft wind doth blow,
There lived a fair maiden; she's the one I adore,
She's the one I would marry on Red River shore.
I spoke to her kindly, saying "Will you marry me?"
My fortune's not great" - "No matter," said she.
"Your beauty's a plenty, you're the one I adore,
You're the one I would marry on Red River shore."
I asked her old father would he give her to me.
"No sir, she shan't marry no cowboy," said he.
So I jumped on my bronco and away I did ride,
And left my true love on Red River side.
She wrote me a letter, and she wrote it so kind,
And in this letter these words you could find:
"Come back to me, darling, you're the one I adore,
You're the one I would marry on Red River shore."
So I jumped on my bronco and away I did ride
To marry my true love on the Red River side.
But her father the secret had learned,
And gathered an army of twenty and four,
To fight this young cowboy on the Red River shore.
I drew my six shooter, shooting round after round,
Till six men were wounded and seven were down.
No use of an army of twenty and four.
I'm bound for my true love on Red River shore.