"'Darcy Farrow'" is a song written by Steve Gillette and Tom Campbell, and first recorded in 1965 by Ian & Sylvia on their album, 'Early Morning Rain.' Gillette released his first recording of it in 1967 on his self-titled album, 'Steve Gillette.'

"The song has been covered by more than 300 artists, including, most notably, John Denver, who recorded it three times and made it famous. [Many people assume that Denver wrote it. --DF]

"The song was written in 1964, inspired by something that happened to Gillette's little sister, Darcy, when she was 12. She was running behind her horse chasing it into the corral when she was kicked. She broke her cheekbone but had no lasting ill effects. Campbell took a melody that Gillette had written and came up with a story about two young lovers and a tragic fall. The place names are actual places around the region of the high valleys and the Walker River in Nevada, where Tom lived when he was eight or nine years old."

—condensed from an article in Wikipedia.

Don Firth

P. S. Is it a folk song? Looks like it might be on its way. Time and usage will tell.