This is an old song from the Burl Ives Songbook, but I found on a website where it was attributed to someone, so I guess it's not strictly traditional. Apparently it was a very popular song in the late 1800s/early 1900s. There is a town in south Texas named Ben Bolt after this song.
There is also a town named Alice that is only about 10 miles north of Ben Bolt. However, Alice was named after the daughter of the founder of the King Ranch. It was founded some 20-odd years earlier than Ben Bolt, so perhaps the name of Alice also influenced the naming of Ben Bolt. Who knows?