The Blue Juniata

The song "The Blue Juanita," the first commercial hit written by an American woman, is about the plight of the Native Americans. The Juniata river is located in Pennsylvania and is a tributary of the Susquehanna River. During the French and Indian War, the Juniata river was the site of many bloody conflicts between white settlers and Native Americans.

The song is a parlor song, with a catchy melody and simple harmonies. The original arrangement is for voice and guitar. Sullivan's husband, J. W. Sullivan, wrote the text for the song.

Mark Twain mentions the song when he writes of minstrel shows in his Autobiography:

"In the beginning the songs were rudely comic, such as 'Buffalo Gals,' 'Camptown Races,' & 'Old Dan Tucker,' and so on; but a little later on sentimental songs were introduced, such as 'The Blue Juanita,' & 'Sweet Ellen Bayne,' & 'Nelly Bly,' & 'A Life on the Ocean Wave,' & 'The Larboard Watch,' etc."

Laura Ingalls Wilder writes of "The Blue Juniata" in Little House on the Prairie. She writes that her parents would play and sing the song to her as a lullaby, though instead of putting her to sleep, the song only raised questions in the little girl's mind about the Native Americans.

--Christie Finn

Image: From the cover of "The Blue Juniata," 1844, public domain

Date: 1844Composer: Marion Dix SullivanText: J. W. Sullivan

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