The usually mentioned march from "San Antonio down to the Rio Grande" seems so central to the story, surviving even in Civil War versions, that it makes a pre-Civil War origin in Texas extremely likely.

What may have prompted the later adaptation is arguably the engagement at Rowlett's Station, Hart Co., Ky., on Dec. 17, 1861, between the Union 32d Indiana Infantry and, notably, the Confederate 8th Texas Cavalry. The 8th Texas was informally known as "Terry's Texas Rangers" for its colonel, Benjamin F. Terry.

What makes this minor Union victory significant here, moreover, is the fact that it occurred at a "station," that it involved "Texas Rangers," and that the Rangers' colonel was killed in the battle.

Any Texan involved who knew the song might well have been inspired to bring it up to date with "Yankees" instead of "Indians."