Well, thanks people! A filker sang to me what he claimed was the original version a few years back. I HATED it -- all about a trader taking an Indian chief's daughter and the pair getting tracked down and dying -- and I naively believed it original. Nice to think that the common version is just as authentic. I've also heard something close -- Shallow Brown -- which is definitely a sea song. Right now, the common version of Shenandoah is my number one high volume song, and though I seldom get a chance to sing really high volume, after twenty minutes or so of warm-up, I can get a line or two just right. It's very satisfying.