"The Arkansas Traveler" was a popular comedy sketch on the vaudeville circuit. It revolved around the encounter of a (usually lost) traveling city person with a local, wise-cracking fiddle player. Various jokes at the expense of the "city slicker" were interspersed with instrumental versions of the song. In many versions, the city person is also a fiddle player, and as the sketch progresses, eventually learns the tune and plays along with the country bumpkin.
The dialog often goes something like this:
Traveler: Howdy Farmer.
Farmer: Howdy stranger.
T: Can I take this road to Fort Smith?
F: No need, they got a road there already.
T: How far is it to Little Rock?
F: Don't know but there's a big one just down the road.
T: Is that creek fordable?
F: My ducks forded it yesterday.
T: But how deep is it?
F: Up to here on the ducks.
T: Who lives here?
F: Me and my brother John.
T: Where is John?
F: He's out huntin'.
T: Huntin' on Sunday? Don't he fear the Lord?
F: John took his gun with him.
T: Your wife's dress is mighty short.
F: That's all right, it'll be long enough before she gets another.
T: Your roof looks pretty bad. Why don't you fix it?
F: I can't fix it when it rains and when it don't rain it don't leak.
T: There ain't much between you and a fool, is there.
F: Just my yard and this fence.
The New Lost City Ramblers recorded the dialog as did Wade Ward. Pete Seeger recorded the vaudeville version of "Arkansas Traveler" for his 1954 album Frontier Ballads.
"The Arkansas Traveler" was the state song of Arkansas from 1949 to 1963; it has been the state historical song since 1987. The music was composed in the 19th century by Colonel Sanford C. 'Sandy' Faulkner (1806–1874).
It has been recorded by The Chieftains, Sean Keane, Aly Bain, The New Lost City Ramblers and others.
The tune is also used for many other lyrics such as "I'm Picking Up a Baby Bumblebee".