Leela, Hi kid. Fun meeting you here !
First, let me tell ya right in front how much I love what you did on Dave & Cathy (Para & Barton's) new CD of river songs (Living On The River on Roustabout Records). Your harmonies on "Is Your Lamps Gone Out" are exquisite. Same with "Sweet Roseanna". I'm a fan and will be waiting for solo CDs from both you and Ellie. (Your parents are good too ! ;-)

Aside from that, "Sundown" was written by Gordon Lightfoot, wasn't it? ;-)

Love to you all,

Art
Kidding aside, "Sundown" (the one you mean) can, as you said, be traced back to Bascom Lamar Lunsford. That's the furthest back traditional link as far as I know. But I don't know where he found it---probably from some of his mountaineer neighbors in North Carolina I'd suspect. Paul Clayton sang it for George and Gerry Armstrong I'm pretty sure. Might be that Lunsford showed it to Clayton on the banjo and Paul Clayton put it on the mountain 3-string dulcimer (which he played pretty sweetly) and that's how the Armstrong's did it too---on the dulcimer. I learned it from G. & G. at a Frank Proffitt memorial concert at the Old Town School Of Folk Music (343 W. North Avenue then) in Chicago. I put it on the banjo as it sounded real good on that intrument I thought--even though I'd never heard Bascom Lunsford's muted banjo record for Riverside Records. When I did finally hear his banjo version, I was pretty amazed how close to his version my own performance of it was. Cindy Mangsen got it from me pretty much. You can ask Dave & Cathy where they got it. I'd guess "all of the above" knowing them.