Eaglesmith Country

"...I picked my last tobacco leaf, soaking wet up to my knees, out there before the sun was on the rise..."

Carmelita

Tobacco is a major cash crop in southwestern Ontario. These pickers, not far from Fred's picnic, were Mexican. Pickers come from all over, and can be seen around tobacco towns such as Tillsonburg, Simcoe, and Delhi, to name a few.

"Well if you're ever out upon ol' Highway 19, or down some old gravel road lost in Oxford County..."

Oxford County Line

"Those old farm houses rise outta the ground like monuments to the sky..." 

Sweaburg General Store

The modern Sweaburg Olde Country Store is not closed like the one in the song.

There was no sign of Big Bear Henry or Two Turtle Jim when I drove into Little Buffalo, riding on all four tires. In fact the little crossroads with just a gas station and convenience store looked very peaceful. Alcohol consumption is a serious problem on many First Nations reserves across Canada, and scenes described in "Little Buffalo" do occur.

"...should have never had a girl who didn't know hay from straw."

I'm Just Dreaming

"...Sharecroppin' on the McGill Tract..."

Sharecroppin'

The farms along McGill Road near Mount Pleasant, where Fred said he wrote this song, look pretty prosperous these days. This area is just south of Brantford.

Eaglesmith Country is farming country, where crops include corn, tobacco, soy beans, grains, and now such exotic crops as ginseng. One often sees dairy cattle, horses, and other animals.

This convertible spotted in Port Stanley looked like the kind of thing I imagined Fred driving at 105 MPH on a date with Lucille.