The U.S. government uses the term Red River Valley generally to describe the sections of northwestern Minnesota and eastern North Dakota to which it secured title following the Anglo-American Convention of 1818 that settled the northern boundary of the US and Canada.

“Red River Valley” was first recorded as “Cowboy Love Song” in 1925 by Carl T. Sprague, one of the first cowboy singers from Texas. The biggest hit of the cowboy version was the 1927 version by Hugh Cross and Riley Puckett.

/ˌred ˌrɪvər ˈvæli/ ​a traditional US song, sung especially by cowboys. It is about a man who is told that the woman he loves is going to move away. It begins with the line 'From this valley they say you are going' and ends: “Come and sit by my side, if you love me.Do not hasten to bid me adieu.

Origins. According to Canadian folklorist Edith Fowke, there is anecdotal evidence that the song was known in at least five Canadian provinces before 1896. This finding led to speculation that the song was composed at the time of the 1870 Wolseley Expedition to Manitoba's northern Red River Valley.