The melody derives from a popular English comic song "Villikins and his Dinah", first published in London in 1853 and which had become a hit in America by 1855. Villikins and his Dinah closely parodies the lyrics of an old street ballad extant in England from the early 19th century, William and Diana; but it is unclear whether it simply borrowed the same melody as the existing ballad it parodies, or used a different tune written especially for theatrical performance.
The final line of the verse about Betsy's drunkenness is often "censored" from "showed her bare arse to the whole wagon train" to "showed her pantaloons to the whole wagon train" or "made a great show for the whole wagon train". The latter line was used by Burl Ives, Pete Seeger, and Connie Dover, among other artists.
Sam Sackett wrote his book Sweet Betsy from Pike, a novelization of the song, after hearing the song performed at an American Folklore Society meeting.
The tune was used for a song sung by the Muppet Folk Trio for a public tv PSA: "Let's keep our kids learnin' on public TV/To do it we need help from you and from me."
On October 7, 1971, on the show Alias Smith and Jones, the song was sung by Jones, Smith and two other miners in a cave after earning $20,000 in gold on the episode "Smiler With A Gun."
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