 It was first published in the "Yellowknife Prospector" in 1939, which claimed that the song was written in 1919 by four men working in the Yukon.Scottish-Canadian poet Robert W. Service also published a ballad with this name in "Twenty Bath-Tub Ballads", 1939, claiming that he had written the song in 1911; however, Service's ballad is significantly different from the traditional lyrics.There are many other versions that exist.