Jimmy Capps posted on Facebook this lyrical music video account of generations of his family and their life along the Osage River since the early 1800s. Acoustic guitar and a haunting harmonica provide a simple but appropriate accompaniment to his original composition. (This is my own transcription from the video. My apologies if there are mistakes!)
Osage River Water
My people came from Tennessee in 1821,
Capps Landing on the Osage is where they made their home.
Great granddad moved to Proctor
When a ferry crossed the stream.
The sons worked the freight boats
burning wood for steam.
Floating ties down the Osage,
Trapping furs and running lines,
Fought the flu and smallpox,
The flood of ‘29
That Osage River water’s flowing in my veins
From the great Wah-Zha-Zhe and everyone between
Granddad lived in a houseboat.
Depression’s scrounged the land.
Moonshine boats, midnight floats, the lawman close at hand
My daddy fished the big lake that stops at Bagnell Dam.
Sold his fish in the town from the trunk of his sedan.
My brothers and I followed suit ‘til we all left the …
Our sons all fish in bass boats and throw away their catch.
That Osage River water’s flowing in our veins
From the mighty Wah-Zha-Zhe and everyone between
Now 30-foot go-fast boats, they scream across the lake
They leave the boats of the country folks a-rockin’ in their wake
That Osage River water’s flowing in my veins
From the mighty Wah-Zha-Zhe and everyone between
