Emma Bell Miles (1879–1919)

“As I write these songs old memories come drifting on their melody—memories of drowsy noons and the tankle-tump-a-tankle of the banjo on the porch, and the thump-chug, thump-chug of the batten as the mother's shuttle went patiently to and fro; of yodels ringing down the gulch; of spinning-wheel songs-old Scotch ballads blurred together with the crescendo and diminuendo of the whirling spokes; of the crooning “By.ee... By-ee…” that lulls little children to sleep; of the laugh and leap of dancers bounding through Cripple Creek at the bidding of a man told off to call the figures;”
[Miles, Some Real American Music, Harper's Monthly Magazine, Vol.109, no.649, June 1904]

The above was reprinted the following year, verbatim, with lyrics added:
“III.
CRIPPLE CREEK.
Goin' up Cripple Creek, goin' in a run,
Goin' up Cripple Creek to have a little fun;
I roll my breeches to my knees,
And wade old Cripple Creek when I please.
Goin' up Cripple Creek, layin' in the shade,
Waitin' for the money that the old man made.”
[The Spirit of the Mountains, Miles, 1905, pp.169-170, 184]