Lyr. Add: RED RIVER VALLEY
(Last. 3 verses from R. W. Gordon Coll.)

1
From this valley they say you are going,
We will miss your bright eyes and sweet smile,
For they say you are taking the sunshine
That brightens our pathway awhile.

Chorus:
Come and sit by my side if you love me,
Do not hasten to bid me adieu,
But remember the Red River Valley
And the girl that has loved you so true.

2
For a long time I have been waiting
For those dear words you never would say,
But at last all my fond hopes have vanished,
For they say you are going away.

Chorus

3
Won't you think of the valley you're leaving?
Oh how lonely, how sad it will be.
Oh think of the fond heart you're breaking,
And the grief you are causing me to see?

Chorus

4
From this valley they say you are going;
When you go, may your darling go too?
Would you leave her behind unprotected
When she loves no other but you?

Chorus

5
I have promised you, darling, that never
Will a word from my lips cause you pain;
And my life,-- it will be yours forever
If you only will love me again.

Chorus

6
Must the past with its joys be blighted
By the future of sorrow and pain,
And the vows that were spoken be slighted?
Don't you think you can love me again?

Chorus

7
As you go to your home by the ocean,
May you never forget those sweet hours,
That we spent in the Red River Valley,
And the love we exchanged 'mid the flowers.

Chorus

8
There never could be such a longing
In the heart of a pure maiden's breast,
That dwells in the heart you are breaking
As I wait in my home in the West.

Chorus

9
And the dark maiden's prayer for her lover
To the Spirit that rules over the world;
May his pathway be ever in sunshine,
Is the prayer of the Red River girl.

Chorus

It seems likely that the last 2-3 verses were additions to the original song. The Gordon Coll. is in the Archive of Folk Culture, Library of Congress.
The first six are similar to the version collected by Sandburg from Gilbert R. Combs; Sandburg also added the three final verses from the R. W. Gordon Coll. (The American Songbag, pp. 130-131).
The lyrics posted here are from the Library of the Univ. Toronto: Red River Valley and The American Songbag.

Richie and John Garst deserve thanks for seeking out the MS at Iowa with its mysterious dates, which may have nothing to do with the song itself.