Oskar Kolberg documented the folk culture of the people from the Sanok and Krosno regions probably between 1883 and 1885. He was already an experienced researcher by that time. It is known that sometimes he would stay longer in his friends’ manors. Especially in the vicinity of Sanok, in the village of Bórka, with his old friend, Józef Bliziński and his wife Pelagia. He was also invited by the Zduń family in Procisnem in 1884. From Kolberg’s correspondence with friends it can be assumed that during his trip to the city of Sanok, he became acquainted with some devoted co-workers who, later, sent him the materials that they had collected.

In 1885, in the Krosno region Kolberg stayed in Wzdów with the Ostaszewski family. He visited the nearby Rymanów, where he met Anna Potocka from the family of Działyński, the owner of the spa park. She used to support many regional initiatives, so Kolberg hoped she would help him to finance the volume related to the Sanok region.

His informants in those areas were not only Polish people, but also Ruthenians, who, at that time, were numerous in the area. For Kolberg the highlanders, called Górale, were the direct descendants of the ancient people who used to live in this area: “The language of highlanders possesses traces of an old tribal language. It is different from the one in the foothills or in the Ruthenian plains. Moreover, highlanders call Polish people Ruthenians, and when they talk about themselves, they use the expression ‘horskii lude’ [the mountain people]. In addition, they have rites which are not seen anywhere in the foothills”.