Alan Lomax said the Colorado creek supplied the title, but I don't see how he could know that. I've also been skeptical because the tune (or at least the title) seems to be better known in the Southeast. So if there's a Cripple Creek in Virginia, and nowhere else in the South, it gets my vote.

I've always thought there was a strong resemblance between the usual "Cripple Creek" tune and that of "Sourwood Mountain."