Oklahoma Hills

by Woody Guthrie and Jack Guthrie

Many a month has come and gone

Since I’ve wandered from my home

In those Oklahoma Hills, where I was born

Many a page of my life has turned

Many lessons I have learned

And I feel like in those hills, I still belong

Way down yonder in the Indian nation

Ridin’ my pony on the reservation

Way down yonder in the Indian nation

Cowboys life is my occupation

In the Oklahoma Hills where I was born

But as I sit here today, many miles I am away

From the place I rode my pony through the draw

Where the oak and black-jack trees

Kiss the playful prairie breeze

In those Oklahoma those hills where I was born

Now as I turn life a page To the land of the great Osage

In those Oklahoma hills Where I was born

Where the black oil rolls and flows

And the snow white cotton grows

In those Oklahoma those hills where I was born

The Osage Nation is a tribe in the United States, which is mainly based in Osage County, Oklahoma, but can be found throughout America.

The Osage were originally known by Ni-U-Kon-Ska, which means meaning "Children of the Middle Waters." Today they call themselves Wah-Zhá-Zhi, which was translated by French explorers as Ouazhigi, which later became the English name Osage.[1] Early settlers have said that the Osages were the largest Native people in North America, with the Osage men averaging over 6 feet tall. In war, they were feared by neighboring tribes.

The Osage language belongs to the Dhegihan branch of the Siouan stock of Native American languages, now spoken in Nebraska and Oklahoma. They originally lived among the Kansa, the Ponca, the Omaha, and the Quapaw in the Ohio Valley.

"Oklahoma Hills" is a song written by Woody Guthrie. Leon "Oke" Guthrie, Woody's cousin, later improved the lyrics and music and in 1945 recorded a Western swing version. Leon's version is the most well known and most recorded.

Country singer Hank Thompson, joined by His Brazos Valley Boys, also recorded a well-known version of "Oklahoma Hills." Thompson's western swing rendition reached No. 10 on the Billboard magazine Hot C&W Singles chart in 1961.

In 2001 the Oklahoma State Legislature declared Woody's version the official state folk song.