Born in Ohio, Dr. Brewster Higley pursued a career as an otolaryngologist. He first practiced medicine in Indiana before moving to Kansas under the Homestead Act of 1862, which promised an applicant up to 160 acres of land in the West.

After moving to Smith County, Kansas, Dr. Higley wrote the poem “Oh Give Me a Home Where the Buffalo Roam.” The poem was published in 1873, the same year in which Daniel Kelley wrote the famous music to accompany the text.

Dr. Higley was married five times and fathered three children. Despite his overt love for Kansas, he died in Oklahoma.

–Christie Finn