Earliest version found is in Christy's "Plantation Melodies #2." 1853.

Lyr. Add: YELLOW ROSE OF TEXAS 1853

1
There's a yellow girl in Texas
That I'm going to see;
No other darkies know her,
No darkey, only me;
She cried so when I left her
That it like to broke my heart,
And if I only find her,
We never more will part.

Chorus-
She's the sweetest girl of colour
That this darkey ever knew;
Her eyes are bright as diamonds,
And sparkle like the dew.
You may talk about your Dearest Mae,
And sing of Rosa Lee,
But the yellow Rose of Texas
Beats the belles of Tennessee.

2
Where the Rio Grande is flowing.
And the starry skies are bright;
Oh, she walks along the river
In the quiet summer night;
And she thinks if I remember
When we parted long ago,
I promised to come back again,
And not to leave her so.

Chorus-

3
Oh, I'm going now to find her,
For my heart is full of woe,
And we'll sing the songs together
That we sang so long ago.
We'll play the banjo gaily,
And we'll sing our sorrows o'er.
And the yellow Rose of Texas
Shall be mine forever more.

Chorus-

"Dearest Mae" and "Rosa Lee" are both titles of two songs appearing in Christy's Minstrels songbooks.

From "The Handbook of Texas Online."
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/xey01