“The Blue Juniata”
Ma’s voice and the fiddle’s music softly died away. And Laura asked, ‘Where did the voice of Alfarata go, Ma?’ …’Oh I suppose she went west,’ Ma answered. ‘That’s what the Indians do.'” – Little House on the Prairie, Chapter 18, “The Tall Indian”
Marion Dix Sullivan (1802-1860) was born Marion Means Dix. In 1825, she married John Sullivan; they lived in Massachusetts. In the 1830s, Mrs. Sullivan took a trip up the Juniata branch of the Pennsylvania Canal, and she was inspired to write the song “The Blue Juniata,” published in 1841. In March 1856, Harper’s New Monthly Magazine included a lengthy article about the beauty of the Juniata branch and charms of Mrs. Sullivan’s song. “The Blue Juniata” was a favorite of both Union and Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. General Sherman even once asked a band to play the song again, he so enjoyed hearing it. After it had been played the second time, soldiers took up the tune and continued to sing it.
The name “Alfarata” was most likely invented for the song, and was not of Indian origin. Juniata is an Indian name, originally given to a branch of the Susquehanna which drains several counties of Central Pennsylvania. [— William Abbatt. The Magazine of History XIX, December 1914, page 233.] Juniata County, in central Pennsylvania, was created in 1831 from part of Mifflin County and was named for the Juniata River.
“The Blue Juniata” was supposedly a favorite song of Charles Ingalls. Laura Ingalls Wilder wanted to use it in Little House on the Prairie and paid to have a copyright search done, except she called the song “Bright Alforatta” [sic]. It was later identified as “Blue Juniata” and Laura was simply told that it was “a very old song” listed in an old songbook, with no publisher given.
In February 1937, two years after the publication of Little House on the Prairie, Laura wrote a letter to daughter Rose Wilder Lane, saying that she had found an old book Ma (Caroline Ingalls) had made out of wrapping paper. In it, Pa (Charles Ingalls) had written the words to “The Blue Juniata,” signing the song and including the year 1860 – the year Charles and Caroline Ingalls were married. Laura wrote that the words they used in Little House on the Prairie were not the same as the ones in Pa’s handwriting, but as she remembered hearing Pa sing it. This wrapping paper book has never been found. Note that the lyrics in the version copyrighted by Marion Dix Sullivan in 1844 aren’t the same as those in Little House on the Prairie, lyrics which were not changed after Laura found the verses in Pa’s handwriting. Perhaps this is what Laura remembered?
1. Wild rov’d an Indian girl,
Bright Alfarata.
Where sweep the waters
Of the blue Juniata.
Swift as an Antelope,
Thro’ the forest going,
Loose were her jetty locks
In wavy tresses flowing.
2. Gay was the mountain song
Of bright Alfarata,
Where sweep the waters
Of the blue Juniata.
Strong and true my arrows are
In my painted quiver,
Swift goes my light canoe
A-down the rapid river.
3. Bold is my warrior good
The love of Alfarata,
Proud waves his snowy plume
Along the Juniata.
Soft and low he speaks to me,
And then his war-cry sounding,
Rings his voice in thunder loud
From height to height resounding.
4. So sang the Indian girl,
Bright Alfarata,
Where sweep the waters
Of the blue Juniata.
Fleeting years have borne away
The voice of Alfarata,
Still sweeps the river on
The Blue Juniata.
THE BLUE JUNIATA
Wild roved an Indian maid
Bright Alfarata
Where flow the waters
Of the blue Juniata
Strong and true my arrows are
In my painted quiver
Swift goes my light canoe
Adown the rapid river.
Bold is my warrior good
The love of Alfarata
Proud wave his snowy plumes
Along the Juniata
Soft and low he speaks to me
And then his war-cry sounding
Rings his voice in thunder loud
From height to height resounding
So sang the Indian maid
Bright Alfaraga
Where sweep the waters
Of the blue Juniata
Fleeting years have borne away
The voice of Alfarata
Still flow the waters
Of the blue Juniata
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Click on the above images to view a copy of original sheet music of “The Blue Juniata.”
This music is archived in the Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music Collection at the Library of Congress. The Collection contains more than 62,500 pieces of historical sheet music registered for copyright: more than 15,000 registered during the years 1820-1860 and more than 47,000 registered during the years 1870-1885.
“The Blue Juniata” (LTP 8)
“Wild roved an Indian maid…”