[4] This finding led to speculation that the song was composed at the time of the 1870 Wolseley Expedition to Manitoba's northern Red River Valley.
It expresses the sorrow of a local woman (possibly a Métis) as her soldier lover prepares to return to the east.
[5] The earliest known written manuscript of the lyrics, titled "The Red River Valley",[6] bears the notations "Nemaha 1879" and "Harlan 1885.
The song appears in sheet music, titled "In the Bright Mohawk Valley", printed in New York in 1896 with James J. Kerrigan as the writer.
[10] 1962-63, sung by Ken Curtis on his TV series Ripcord, with Harry Carey Jr. playing guitar.