When I was at KU, about 1962-1965, my friends were all folkies. I find it weird that it's referred to as a Girl Scout Camp song, because none of us were anything like Girl Scouts. Anyway, one young man sang this one, had pretty much a monopoly on it ;^) and I always begged him to do it. He said that he and another boy had collaborated on writing it when he was in High School. His singing is the only place I ever heard it. I surely wouldn't have thought of it as a children's song! But there was a song "El Paso" (Marty Robbins?) popular when I was in high school that reminded me a bit of it in story (love and murder, running away on horseback), and pace, but Spider Web was better.

The boy was from Kansas City, named John Wahl, and the last I heard of him, he'd dropped out of college and joined the Navy.

I dropped out too.... sign of the times.