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Motor Home on the Range
Farrell Adkins interview and performance

Farrell & Nancy Adkins live much of their semi-retirement in their motor home, working as Campground Hosts at different state parks. In 2001 they'd hosted in Florida and were spending the summer at Arrow Rock campground in Missouri. Farrell was a public school teacher (you meet a lot of them on the trail) and is a history buff. He gave us a guided tour of Arrow Rock past and present. Then he pulled out his guitar, and talked and sang...

("Home on the Range", 1st verse:)
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 on the Range," one of my favor-rite-ist songs. Beautiful evening here in Arrow Rock. This is famous for the Lewis & Clark trail came through here, Arrow Rock here. This whole area was Osage indians and the white man came and traded with them for their beautiful pelts. We were told the other night, anything on four legs and some things on two legs. The Indians traded to the fur traders and then the fur traders gave them steel, tamahawks, knives and the muskets.

My grandmother was Cherokee, so I have kind of a fond admiration for the indians.

And I guess the Osage the, there were several other tribes around here that wnated to cash in on this trading with the settlers but the Osage fought off I don't know how many tribes, they were pretty tough hombres, I guess.

Then the white man, of course, he got tired of trading with them. And he said: we kinda like this land, we'd like for you to move off of it. So they were put out. They went over to Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas and continued trading over there.

("Home on the Range", 1st verse:)
The red man was pressed from this part of the West,
He's likely no more to return
To the banks of Red River where seldom if ever
Their flickering campfires burn.

Home on the Range (MP3: 2:03 / 2M), sung/played by Farrell Adkins

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.

(Chorus:)
Home, home on the range,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word,
And the sky is not clouded all day.

Where the air is so pure, the zephyrs so free,
The breezes so balmy and light,
That I would not exchange my home on the range
For all the cities so bright.

(Chorus)

Oh, give me a land where the bright diamond sand
Flows leisurely down the stream;
Where the graceful white swan goes gliding along
Like a maid in a heavenly dream.

(More verses:)
The red man was pressed from this part of the West,
He's likely no more to return
To the banks of Red River where seldom if ever
Their flickering campfires burn.

How often at night when the heavens are bright
With the light of the glittering stars,
Have I stood here amazed and asked as I gazed
If their glory exceeds that of ours.

Oh, I love these wild flowers in this dear land of ours;
The curlew I love to hear scream;
And I love the white rocks and the antelope flocks
That graze on the mountain-tops green.

Then I would not exchange my 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.

Additional verses by Tori Amos in
Home on the Range: Cherokee Edition

Well Jackson made deals, a thief down to his heels,
Had a long trail of tears
The Smokies could hide Cherokee bride,
Her brave was shot yesterday.

Mmm, we know it's not Caroline
Your home is your home the range
May be fine for some but not in my eyes.
Home, home on the range
The Smokies always hide
Cherokee bride but in her eyes
We know it's not Caroline.

Yes, yes America!
Hey, ah, America!
Oh, who discovered your ass?
The white man came, "this land is my land,
This is your land," they sang.

("Home on the Range: Cherokee Edition" by Tori Amos
on US "God" single & UK "Pretty Good Year" (Part 1) single)