In considering songs about Colorado, it is important to remember § 24-80-909 of the Colorado Revised Statutes, which provides:

That certain song entitled “Where the Columbines Grow”, the words of which were written by A. J. Fynn and the music of which was composed by A. J. Fynn, is hereby adopted as the official state song of Colorado to be used on all appropriate occasions.

Columbines

Accordingly, we have to discuss “Where the Columbines Grow.”  It is the law, and has been since 1915.

Now, I have lived in Colorado since the 1950s, and I have only heard this song performed perhaps half a dozen times.  That makes me wonder exactly what an “appropriate occasion” might be, though I am pretty sure this is one.  However, before considering the song, itself, we should look at columbines and their legal context – Specifically, §§ 24-80-905 through 908, which state:

24-80-905. Columbine:  The white and lavender columbine is hereby made and declared to be the state flower of the state of Colorado.
24-80-906. Duty to protect:  It is hereby declared to be the duty of all citizens of this state to protect the white and lavender Columbine Aquilegia, Caerulea, the state flower, from needless destruction or waste.
24-80-907. Limitation on picking state flower:  It is unlawful for any person to tear the state flower up by the roots when grown or growing upon any state, school, or other public lands or in any public highway or other public place or to pick or gather upon any such public lands or in any such public highway or place more than twenty-five stems, buds, or blossoms of such flower in any one day; and it is also unlawful for any person to pick or gather such flower upon private lands without the consent of the owner thereof first had or obtained.
24-80-908. Violation a misdemeanor – penalty:  Any person who violates any provision of section 24-80-907 is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than five nor more than fifty dollars.

The legislative history tells us that the lavender and white columbine was designated the state flower in 1899, but the provisions calling for its protection and criminalizing the picking of the columbine were not added until 1925.  It makes you wonder whether the intervening 26 years had been an time of floral vandalism making it necessary for the Legislature to take extreme measures.

This is not the time or the place to consider that issue.  We are talking about the state song, even though there is not yet a criminal penalty for failing to include it “on all appropriate occasions.”

The flower we usually think of as the “Colorado columbine” is a perennial that grows from seed, reaching a height of about 15 inches, and is found in mountain meadows or wooded areas (it prefers partial shade) in late Spring or early Summer.  In Colorado, the flower is usually blue or purple, but there are some 60 species of columbine that come in many colors.

Arthur John Fynn, a respected Colorado educator, certainly knew about the columbine.  He moved to Central City from New York in 1889, at the age of 32, and resided in the state until his death in 1930.  He wrote what became the lyrics of the first three verses of “Where the Columbines Grow” in 1909, and composed the music a year or two later. Continue reading →