Sweet Betsy from Pike

"Sweet Betsy from Pike" is an American ballad about the trials of a pioneer named Betsy and her lover Ike who migrate from Pike County (theorized to be Pike County, Missouri) to California. This California gold rush-era song, with lyrics published by John A. Stone in 1858, was collected and published in Carl Sandburg's 1927 American Songbag. It was recorded by Burl Ives on February 11, 1941, for his debut album Okeh Presents the Wayfaring Stranger.

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.

Members of the Western Writers of America chose it as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.