14 November 2022 — 0735 mst

Sourdough Slim’s inimitable performance of Red River Valley

By James Conner

Rick Crowder and Robert Anderson, performing as Sourdough Slim, a throwback to the Vaudeville era, perform Red River Valley after Sam opens with a bit of semi-adult humor. This is the cowboy version of the song, based on the Red River of the south. Many scholars of folk music, however, believe the song’s Red River is the Red River of the north that forms the border between Minnesota and the Dakotas, flowing north into Manitoba until its waters finally reach Hudson Bay.