This particular piece is very dear to my heart, because my Pop was a Drover/Saddler. He inspired me immensely, and will always be a hero that I love. This piece is dedicated to him.
Without Droving and Overlanding in the 1830s, when the continent opened up; there would not have been any effective movement of cattle and sheep across our vast land. If one is not familiar with what these terms refer to, ‘Droving’ is the movement of stock across vast distances of land, and ‘Overlanding’ is a specific term used when very long trips, from colony to colony, and even up to across large amounts of Australia were taken to move stock.
The pioneer drovers were truly talented at their craft, because no routes were established when they began to move stock. They had to establish these within our rugged terrain themselves, through a case of trial and error for each route they created. George Hamilton was one of the early Overlanders that was part of the 1839 team, of 13 men, who drove 3000 sheep from N.S.W. to Port Phillip. In that same year, he also participated in a drove of 400 head cattle from Melbourne to Adelaide.
Sidney Kidman (Cattle King) was another legendary Overlander. He developed a chain of stock stations from North Queensland to Adelaide, so that he could attempt to drought – proof his assets. This chain helped him when drought hit one or a few of his properties, he would then drove his stock (often by himself), to one of his better off cattle stations so that his assets were safe from the drought. This chain of stock stations also helped him to bring in the highest price for his stock; if prices were higher down at his southern stock station, he would sell them, and often buy out his competitiors who could no longer financially support their stations.
There were two main Overland Stock Routes in Australia used to move the stock in Pioneer Times, through to the occasional trip (preferably by motor vehicle) these days. These were the Murranji Track and the Birdsville Track. The Murranji Track was established by Nat Buchanan in the 1800s, and is also known as the ‘Ghost Road of Drovers’. It stretches from north – west Northern Territory, to Camooweal in Western Queesnland. Once upon a time drovers could travel up to 200 kms along this track and not find water. This has since been remedied with bores every 30 – 40 kms nowadays.
The Birdsville Track was established by Percy Butt in the 1860s, and it runs 500 kms from Marree in northern South Australia, to Birdsville in south – west Queensland. This track covers some of the driest and hottest parts of Australia, and may be well worth traveling one day, just to experience the harsh conditions that the Pioneers of our Country had to endure to be Drovers in these areas.
There may not be many Drovers or Overlanders left in the Modern Day, with the comfort and convenience of motor vehicles being the preferred mode of transport, both for general use and for movement of stock. However the folklore that they created surely can’t be forgotten as part of Australia’s Heritage; one can only hope that their stories will live on forevermore.
Feature Image Courtesy of Australian Geographic.
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