"Down in the Arkansas" was attributed to George "Honey Boy" Evans (1870-1915) who performed as a blackface minstrel and owned the Honey Boys minstrel troup. He is supposed to have written this song in 1913. He also composed "In the Good Old Summertime". "Down in the Arkansas" has been recorded by Riley Puckett, Uncle Dave Macon, Almeda Riddle, Jimmy Driftwood and others. I learned it from the Jimmy Driftwood recording.