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Artists Recent Acquisitions Featured Paintings Search Inventory Contemporary Realism Works under $10,000 VG Gift Certificates  Personal Gallery Not finding what you're looking for? |
Roger Medearis Sweet Betsy from Pike Egg tempera on panel, 20 x 30 inches Signed lower right, 1948 Did you ever hear tell of Sweet Betsy from Pike, Who crossed the wide prairie with her lover Ike, With two yoke of oxen, a big yellow dog, A tall Shanghai rooster, and one spotted hog. The alkali desert was burning and bare, And Isaac’s soul shrank from the death that lurked there. “Dear old Pike County, I’ll go back to you.” Says Betsy, “You’ll go by yourself if you do!” They swam the wide rivers and crossed the tall peaks, And camped on the prairie for weeks upon weeks. Starvation and cholera, hard work and slaughter – They reached California ‘spite of hell and high water. They suddenly stopped on a very high hill, With wonder looked down upon old Placerville. Ike said to Betsy, as he cast his eyes down, “Sweet Betsy, my darling, we’ve got to Hangtown.” -- Excerpted from “Sweet Betsy from Pike” by John A. Stone (written before 1858) Like his mentor Thomas Hart Benton, Roger Medearis drew inspiration for his paintings from old folk songs and ballads. “Sweet Betsy from Pike” was a popular Gold Rush-era ballad, a tale of hardship that lends itself well to Medearis’ vivid, dramatic painting style. Sung to the tune of an English ballad, “Villikens and His Dinah,” it has been recorded by dozens of country and folk musicians, including Burl Ives, Johnny Cash, Pete Seeger and Rosemary Clooney. View additional works by this artist 
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