Kieffer Walks Across America - Via Virtual

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Home on the Range Cabin Description:One of the most popular songs in American history, and the personal favorite of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was inspired by a nagging woman - or at least by the absence of one. Dr. Brewster M. Higley, a physician from Ohio, lost his first three wives to either illness or injury. Then he married the widow McPherson, and she turned out to be an unsufferable nag. To escape her, Dr. Higley gave up his medical practice and moved to Smith County, Kansas, where he built a small log cabin on the Banks of Beaver Creek.It was while living here alone in 1871, enjoying the peace and quiet of his new life, that Higley penned the words to the poem which would later be set to music and in 1947 became the state song of Kansas. It has been recorded scores of times, from singers including Gene Autrey and Frank Sinatra and many others.If you visit the Higley Cabin you will feel like you are in someone's back yard, and you will be. Although it is on private property visitors are welcome. When I was there I found the cabin unlocked and unattended. There are a few pioneer era furnishings and other items on display. A plaque on the side of the cabin tells a bit of the story. As I left the place I found myself humming the tune:
HOME ON THE RANGE Oh, give me a homewhere the buffalo roamWhere the deer and the antelope play'Where seldom is heardA discouraging word,And the sky is not cloudy all day.Home, home on the range,Where the deer and the antelope play,Where never is heard a discouraging wordAnd the Sky is not cloudy all day.