I should have added that the original of the song under discussion here, namely "The Rivers of Texas," was collected by Vance Randolph from Irene Carlisle, who was a student at the University of Arkansas in Fayettville back before Randolph published his wonderful four volume Ozark Folksongs. All of the other versions -- and I've seen them from West Virginia and elsewhere, including Win Stracke's Illinois text -- must be considered parodies of the original, which has never before or since been reported from oral tradition.
    Sandy