Hmmmm. The Traditional Ballad Index says Randolph collected it in 1942. Randolph says he collected it from Mrs. Irene Carlisle in Fayetteville, Arkansas, January 30, 1942. Mrs. Carlisle learned it in 1921 from a hired hand who had lived in Texas. The lyrics in Randolph's Ozark Folksongs are the ones we all know. There's a classic Sandy Paton post on the subject here (click)

-Joe-