Interesting discussion and citations. I still can't figure out for sure when and where the song originated, but the version I sing is one I found in an old songbook (possibly a Boy Scout songbook) from the early part of the 20th C. and very similar to those that Q posted above (from "Cowboy Songs," 1938, Powder River Jack H. Lee, pp. 8-9, with sheet music, published by The McKee Printing Co., Butte, Montana). But it also had the verse about "As you go to your home by the ocean ... "

I thought it placed the date of the song as far back as the 1870s, though. But I'd have to see if I can find that songbook again.