Yes, Huddie Ledbetter wrote it. The story is that he wrote the song, got tired of getting about $25 to make a record for it, so took the same song to a number of different race record companies, and got $25 from each. When the made the record, there were lots of copies which contributed to its popularity. You might search on the web for Leadbelly or Huddie Ledbetter for more info. Brad http;//www.camasnet.com/~asondahl/bradindex.html