Carson Robison was born August 4, 1890, in Oswego, Kansas, and became one of the first cowboy singers when he appeared on WDAF in Kansas City in 1922. According to historian, Douglas B. Green, Robison was the first to popularize “Home on the Range.”

Robison’s father was a cowboy fiddler and dance caller, and Carson learned to play guitar and harmonica. He spent the first 30 years of his life (other than when he served in World War I) in Chetopa, Kansas, near the Oklahoma border in the southwest part of the state. He worked for the railroad, then in the Oklahoma oil fields. He moved to New York City in 1924. His first fame came as a whistler doing “Songbirds of Georgia” and “Whistle Your Blues Away.”

Robison met singer Vernon Dalhart in late 1924 and became his guitar player. Dalhart reportedly recorded over 60 of the 300 songs that Robison wrote. Included in these were “The John T. Scopes Trial,” “Wreck of the 1256,” “My Blue Ridge Mountain Home,” “Maggie Andrews,” “The Engineer’s Child,” and “My Little Home in Tennessee.” He wrote a number of songs under pseudonyms, which included Carlos B. McAfree and Maggie Andrews (his mother’s maiden name).

In mi-1926, he began singing duets with Dalhart and then in trios that included Adelyn Hood. Under the name “Kansas Jayhawk” he recorded two whistling solos “Nola” and “Whistleitis.” Robison could whistle two notes in harmony.

Robison’s first Western recording was one of his own compositions, “The Little Green Valley,” recorded for the Okeh label in 1928. By 1929 he had written the hits “Left My Gal in the Mountains” (which was Gene Autry’s first release) and “Sleepy Rio Grande” and had numerous songs recorded with Vernon Dalhart and Frank Luther.

Robison and Dalhart split in June 1928; Robison then became a recording partner with Frank Luther and they recorded about 300 duets together. This duo lasted until April 1932; their most popular number as the Robison-penned song “Barnacle Bill the Sailor.”

Robison and Luther cut some of the earliest recordings of “Utah Trail,” “Red River Valley,” and other Western classics. Robison’s most famous Western composition is “Carry Me Back to the Lone Prairie” (“O Bury Me Not on the Long Prairie”) which was introduced in the movie Stars Over Broadway in 1935.

In the spring of 1932, Robison formed a group, The Buckaroos, with John, Bill, and Pearl Mitchell. They dressed in cowboy costumes and went to England for a persona appearance tour where they were recorded as “The Pioneers.” Robison also made trips to England in 1946 and 1939.

Robison recorded for Victor; he was known for writing topical songs and during World War II wrote “Hitler’s Last Letter to Hirohito.” Robison’s last recordings were with the Pleasant Valley Boys for MGM from 1947 through 1956. In 1948 he wrote and recorded “Life Gets Tee-Jus, Don’t It?” which was a hit for Tex Ritter.

Carson Robison died March 24, 1957.

Awards:

• 2001 Hall of Fame Inductees