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Composed by Braxton County, West Virginia, old-time fiddler Ernie Carpenter (1909-1997).

According to the booklet accompanying Carpenter's LP, the story behind the tune is one of a difficult adjustment to a forced change in Ernie's life. He had worked most of his life for the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company in Clarksburg, prior to retiring in 1972 to his home in Braxton County, West Virginia.

He was a regular visitor during his working years to his homeplace on the Elk River, and was witness to the planning and construction of the Sutton Dam by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the river during the 1950's and 1960's.

Unfortunately, this resulted in the flooding of his boyhood home and the surrounding area, despite the efforts of himself and neighbors to forestall the project through a lobbyist. He refused the government's initial offer for his land (they didn't offer him anything for his house), and took the case to court.

He was able to gain a marked increase in the money he eventually was paid through this process, although he had to pay legal fees out of his pocket. He stayed in his Elk River homestead while the dam was being constructed, even though most of his neighbors had already left. Workmen blocked the roads in and out of the area, but Carpenter found alternate routes until they too were closed off.

"I was the last person out of there," he said," I went ahead then and tore the old place town and brought it up here. Part of its in this house." Of the tune, he remarked: "I was sittin' here one day, an' I had the blues. I reckon as bad as anybody could, thinkin' about my old homeplace up on the Elk River. I started sawin' on the fiddle an' that's what I came up with."

...more at: Elk River Blues - full Score(s) and Annotations

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{SheetMusic
-|f_track=Buffalo_Gals.mp3
+|f_track=Elk River Blues.mp3
-|f_pdf=Buffalo Gals.pdf
+|f_pdf=Elk River Blues.pdf
-|f_artwork=DOWNTOWN_BUFFALO_LOOKING_NORTH_-_NARA_-_549477_(restored).tif
+|f_artwork=Ernie Carpenter.jpg
-|f_tune_name=Buffalo Gals
+|f_tune_name=Elk River Blues
-|f_track_title=Buffalo_Gals_(1)
+|f_track_title=Elk River Blues
-|f_section=X4
+|f_section=abc
-|f_played_by=[https://soundcloud.com/thepinetreestringband The Pine Tree String Band]
+|f_played_by=[https://soundcloud.com/jatek-zenekar Jatek Zenekar]
-|f_notes= Downtown Buffalo in 1973, showing the then-Marine Midland Tower, Niagara River and Buffalo's Lower West Side.
+|f_notes=Ernie Carpenter (1909-1997)
-|f_caption=The name 'Buffalo' for the New York town derives from the name of a Native American. It was first called Buffalo Creek, becoming simply Buffalo as the town grew. It has been speculated, however, that the name of the tune/song derives from Erie Canal workers who frequented the prostitutes located on Goose Island, in Buffalo.
+|f_caption=According to the booklet accompanying Carpenter's LP, the story behind the tune is one of a difficult adjustment to a forced change in Ernie's life.
-|f_source=[https://soundcloud.com/thepinetreestringband/buffalo-gals Soundcloud]
+|f_source=[https://soundcloud.com/jatek-zenekar/elk-river-blues Soundcloud]
 |f_pix=420
 |f_picpix=200
-|f_article=[[Buffalo_Gals_(1) | '''Buffalo Gals''']]
+|f_article=[[Elk River Blues | '''Elk River Blues''']]
-This popular melody has been set in a variety of musical forms and genres. The name 'Buffalo' for the New York town derives from the name of a Native American. It was first called Buffalo Creek, becoming simply Buffalo as the town grew.
+Composed by Braxton County, West Virginia, old-time fiddler Ernie Carpenter (1909-1997).
-It has been speculated, however, that the name of the tune/song derives from Erie Canal workers who frequented the prostitutes located on Goose Island, in Buffalo. The tune is widespread in American tradition, though as Samuel Bayard (1944) points out, the song is widely disseminated and is now an 'international melody'.
+According to the booklet accompanying Carpenter's LP, the story behind the tune is one of a difficult adjustment to a forced change in Ernie's life. He had worked most of his life for the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company in Clarksburg, prior to retiring in 1972 to his home in Braxton County, West Virginia.
-Curiously, he thinks the air itself probably originated in Germany, but came to America and was assimilated in 'British style'. Instrumental versions, not surprisingly, are more ornate than vocal settings and display much wider variation, as a comparison of the sources listed below will attest. "Version B ('Johnstown Gals') affords a good example of how the influence of common melodic formulae, combined with tendencies toward attaining easy bowing and fingering will modify the outlines of a tune in instrumental tradition.
+He was a regular visitor during his working years to his homeplace on the Elk River, and was witness to the planning and construction of the Sutton Dam by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the river during the 1950's and 1960's.
-Version A ('[[Hagantown Gals]]') is much like some recorded further south; B is in some ways distinctive...Sets from American tradition are Lomax, '''American Ballads and Folk Songs''', pp. 288–289; Ford, p. 53; Adam, No. 12; and three play-party versions from Texas in Owens, '''Swing and Turn''', pp. 45, 54, 103. (Bayard, 1944). See also "[[O Dear Mother My Toes are Sore (3)]]" for a 6/8 version ('A' part only).
+Unfortunately, this resulted in the flooding of his boyhood home and the surrounding area, despite the efforts of himself and neighbors to forestall the project through a lobbyist. He refused the government's initial offer for his land (they didn't offer him anything for his house), and took the case to court.
+He was able to gain a marked increase in the money he eventually was paid through this process, although he had to pay legal fees out of his pocket. He stayed in his Elk River homestead while the dam was being constructed, even though most of his neighbors had already left.  Workmen blocked the roads in and out of the area, but Carpenter found alternate routes until they too were closed off.
+"I was the last person out of there," he said," I went ahead then and tore the old place town and brought it up here. Part of its in this house." Of the tune, he remarked: "I was sittin' here one day, an' I had the blues. I reckon as bad as anybody could, thinkin' about my old homeplace up on the Elk River. I started sawin' on the fiddle an' that's what I came up with."
 }}