"Wait for the Wagon" was first published as a parlor song in New Orleans, Louisiana, with an 1850 copyright, and music attributed to Wiesenthal and the lyrics to "a lady".

Peters, Webb and Co. in Louisville, Kentucky, published it as "Wait For The Wagon: A Song For The South West" with no attribution to music or lyrics.

Boswell also published a minstrel version ("Wait For The Wagon: A New Ethiopian Song & Melody") in 1851, as arranged by W. Loftin Hargrave.

[3] A version of the song, entitled "The Southern Wagon" was written during the American Civil War by soldiers in the Confederacy.

In 2001, Leapfrog Enterprises released the Fun and Learn Phonics Bus, the Alphabet Pal caterpillar, and the Discovery Ball.

It was later played on the LeapStart Learning Table a year later when you press the banjo spinner at a certain point in the music setting.