Day of 49
Historical Music
Description
This song comes from the 1910 John A. Lomax's collection "Cowboy Songs and Other Frontier Ballads" John A. Lomax was a pioneering folklorist who traveled the West recording cowboy songs, work songs, and ballads from oral tradition. His 1910 book was one of the first major collections to treat these as serious American folk literature (it even includes a foreword from Theodore Roosevelt). Origin: Like many in the collection, the song is anonymous ("Unknown"). It likely emerged in the late 19th/early 20th century among settlers, cowboys, and dry-land farmers in the Southwest (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona regions), where adobe dwellings were common. It reflects the real struggles of homesteaders on marginal land—drought, sandstorms, claim-jumping, and economic failure—during the closing of the frontier. This fits the “Forty-Niner” / California Gold Rush era and later Western mining camps (Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, etc.). Lomax noted finding similar mining songs in old songbooks and frontier newspapers from the 1860s onward. It’s one of the non-cowboy “frontier ballads” in the collection, reflecting the broader pioneer experience.
Legal Details / License Terms
The lyrics of this song are in the Public Domain. Music generated using AI. This auction example serves to showcase historical frontier music. All applicable rights reserved. Kaycee Ranch LLC.
Rights Information
The winning bidder will receive 100.00% ownership of this work, including proportional rights to streaming royalties, sync licensing fees, and other revenue generated by this music. Ownership is transferred via a formal assignment agreement during the escrow process. Learn more →