The Western Messenger I (Nov., 1835):

“For a time we feared we should have to pause upon the rude boat-songs and wild choruses of Mike Fink, and his redoubtable companions: ‘Hard upon the beach oar,’ ‘All the way to Shawneetown,’ ‘Row! Row! On the bright ‘Hio,’ &c.”

Henry Brown, The History of Illinois (N.Y.: J. Winchester, 1844):

“There [is] something, even at this day, on which the imagination delights to linger, in ‘All the way to Shawneetown; long time ago.’*… *The chorus of a favorite boat-song.”


That was nearly 180 years ago! And there's no record of the old tune!

So what's the continuing fascination with the words, "on which the imagination delights to linger," which many writers have quoted in print into the 21st century.

There's the prosody (aw...aw...aw...o), the exoticism of "All the way to Shawneetown" and the nostalgia of "Long time ago."

For me it's also the mental connection of the image with Disney's "Davy Crockett Meets Mike Fink" and "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates."