Home On The Range
by Dan Kelly

“ Home On The Range ” is a classic western folk song sometimes called the “unofficial anthem” of the American West. It is also the official anthem of the state of Kansas. Dr. Brewster M. Higley of Smith County, Kansas, wrote the lyrics in the poem “My Western Home” in 1872. In 1947, it became the Kansas state song. In 2010, members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 western songs of all time. Higley’s friend Daniel E. Kelley (1808–1905) wrote the melody on his guitar. Higley’s original words are similar to those of the modern version of the song, but not identical; the original did not contain the words “on the range”. The song was eventually adopted by ranchers, cowboys, and other western settlers, and it spread throughout the United States in various forms.

Lyrics

Home On The Range

Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day

Home, home on the range
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day

The red man was pressed from this part of the west
It’s not likely he’ll ever return
To the banks of Red River where seldom if ever
His flickering campfires still burn

Home, home on the range
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day

How often at night when the heavens are bright
I see the light of those flickering stars
Have I laid there amazed and asked as I gazed
If their glory exceeds that of love

Home, home on the range
Where the deer and the antelope play
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day

Songwriters: Daniel E. Kelley, Dr. Brewster M. Higley