A person who moves livestock over long distances
A
drover
in
Australia
is a person, typically an experienced
stockman
, who moves
livestock
, usually
sheep
,
cattle
, and horses "on the hoof" over long distances. Reasons for
droving
may include: delivering animals to a new owner's property, taking animals to market, or moving animals during a
drought
in search of better feed and/or water or in search of a yard to work on the livestock. The drovers who covered very long distances to open up new country were known as "
overlanders
".
[1]
Method
[
edit
]
Moving a small mob of quiet cattle is relatively easy, but moving several hundreds or thousands head of wild
station
cattle over long distances is a very different matter.
[2]
Long-distance moving large mobs of stock was traditionally carried out by contract drovers. A drover had to be independent and tough, an excellent horseman, able to manage stock as well as men. The boss drover who had a plant (horses, dogs, cooking gear and other requisites) contracted to move the mob at a predetermined rate according to the conditions, from a starting point to the destination. The priorities for a boss drover were the livestock, the horses, and finally the men, as drovers were paid per head of stock delivered. Drovers were sometimes on the road for as long as two years.
Traditional droving could not have been done without horses. The horse plant was made up of work-horses, night-horses and
packhorses
, with each drover riding four or five horses during a trip. The horse tailer was the team member responsible for getting horses to water and feed, and bringing them to the camp in the morning. A good night-horse was highly prized for its night vision, temperament, and its ability to bring animals under control when a "rush", known elsewhere as a stampede, occurred at night.
[3]
The standard team of men employed to move 1,200 cattle consisted of seven men: the boss drover, four
stockmen
, a cook and a horse-tailer. Store cattle were moved in larger mobs, of up to 1,500 head, while fat bullocks going to meatworks were taken in mobs of about 650 head, i.e. three train loads. The stockmen will ride in formation at the front, sides and back of the mob, at least until the mob has settled into a routine pace. Cattle are expected to cover about ten miles (16 km) a day, sheep about six miles (9.7 km), and are permitted to spread up to 800 metres (half a mile) on either side of the road. Occasionally mobs of horses were moved by drovers. A short camp is made for a lunch break, after which the cook and horse-tailer will move ahead to set up the night camp.
[3]
A continual watch is kept over cattle during the night camp, usually with one horseman riding around the mob, unless the cattle are restless, when two riders would be used.
[3]
A rush can be started by a sudden noise such as a
dingo
howl, a bolt of
lightning
, sparks from a fire, or even a bush rat gnawing on a tender part of a hoof. Drovers tell vivid stories of the totally chaotic conditions that occur when several hundred cattle start a rush at night. If they head towards the drovers’ camp, the best option may be to climb a sturdy tree (very quickly). Many drovers have been trampled to death in a rush, sometimes still in their
swags
. A good night-horse can be given its head, and will gradually wheel the leading cattle around until the mob is moving in a circle, and calm can be restored.
During long "dry stages" extra care will be taken of the stock, and this may involve droving during the night to conserve the animals’ energy. About three kilometres before water is reached, the animals will be held and small groups will be taken to drink in order that the cattle do not rush and injure or drown others.
[3]
A "cattle train drover" is a person who accompanies a mob of cattle on a train while they are being transported to a new location. The goods trains provide special accommodation for these drovers in specially constructed guard's vans. Queensland is now the only state to run cattle trains.
[4]
Heyday
[
edit
]
The first droving over a significant distance occurred in 1836 when 300 cattle were moved by
Joseph Hawdon
in 26 days from the
Murrumbidgee River
to
Melbourne
, a distance of about 480 km. Also in 1836,
Edward John Eyre
drove stock from New South Wales to the
Port Phillip
district.
[5]
As droving skills were developed, more challenging assignments were undertaken.
During the late 1830s, settlers began to move into countryside near
Adelaide
. There followed expeditions to bring sheep and cattle to Adelaide from New South Wales. The first such expedition was led by Eyre, which started in December 1837 and followed the path of
Charles Sturt
along the
Murray?Darling River system
.
[6]
Eyre's party comprised eight stockmen, 1000 sheep, and 600 head of cattle, which started out from
Monaro
in New South Wales.
[7]
The party arrived in Adelaide in July 1838.
[6]
During the following years, the traffic on the Murray?Darling route would grow enormously. At its height, there was an almost continuous train of sheep, cattle, bullock drays, and horses along the route.
[6]
Many
Aborigines
lived along the route. They sometimes received "injudicious treatment" from the Europeans?in the words of Governor
George Gawler
.
[6]
Such treatment included sexual abuse of Aboriginal women and wanton shooting of Aboriginal people. That led to an escalating cycle of conflicts between Aboriginal people and Europeans.
[8]
For example, drover
Henry Inman
lost all 5000 of his sheep, when Aboriginal people attacked his party, in April 1841.
[6]
[9]
And in August 1841, drover
William Robinson
and his party, together with a policing force, killed at least 30 Aboriginal people, in the
Rufus River massacre
.
[6]
[10]
[11]
In 1863, boss drover George Gregory drove 8,000 sheep from near
Rockhampton
to the
Northern Territory
border, some 2,100 km, taking seven months. In the early 1870s, Robert Christison overlanded 7,000 sheep from Queensland to Adelaide, a distance of 2,500 km.
[12]
Patrick Durack
and his brother Michael trekked across the north of Australia from their property on
Coopers Creek
in
Queensland
, which they left in 1879 along with 7250 breeding cattle and 200 horses, to the
Kimberley
region of
Western Australia
near
Kununurra
where they arrived in 1882. The 3,000 miles (4,828 km) journey of cattle to stock
Argyle Downs
and
Ivanhoe Station
is the longest of its type ever recorded.
[13]
Charles and William MacDonald left their property near
Tuena
, New South Wales, in 1883 bound to establish a new pastoral lease,
Fossil Downs Station
, in the Kimberley of Western Australia some 5,600 kilometres (3,480 mi) away. They left with 700 head of cattle and 60 horses during
drought
conditions as they trekked through
Queensland
. Arriving at the property in June 1886 with 327 cattle and 13 horses they reunited with their brother Dan.
[14]
The most famous
Outback
stock routes
were the
Murranji Track
, the
Birdsville Track
, the
Strzelecki Track
and the
Canning Stock Route
. The Canning was regarded as the loneliest, the most difficult, and the most dangerous.
Decline
[
edit
]
The gradual introduction of
railways
from about the 1860s made some droving work unnecessary. However, the work of the overlanders and drovers in general fell away rapidly in the 1960s as trucking of animals became the norm.
Road trains
carrying large number of animals are today a common sight in rural and
Outback
areas. But during times of
drought
, taking animals onto the "long paddock", the fenced travelling
stock route
, along a public road, is common practice even today, and droving skills are still required. The modern drover is now typically assisted with modern equipment, such as
motorcycles
,
all-terrain vehicles
, a
truck
and/or trailer for the horses, if they are used. Caravans are commonly used, along with generators to provide extra comfort and convenience. Stock may be enclosed at night in an area that has been fenced off with a temporary
electric fence
.
Localised droving was common in the
Kosciuszko National Park
and
Alpine National Park
and
High Plains
areas, until the areas became National Parks. The drovers would often bring cattle from the lower pastures to the fresh green pastures for the summer months. During the summer months many of the drovers would often stay in mountain huts like
Daveys Hut
,
Whites River Hut
and
Mawsons Hut
.
Notable drovers
[
edit
]
In 1881,
Nat Buchanan
, regarded by many as the greatest drover of all, took 20,000 cattle from
St George
in Southern Queensland to the
Daly River
, not far south of
Darwin
, a distance of 3,200 km.
Cattle stealing has long been part of Australia's history and some of the country's biggest droving feats have been performed by cattle
rustlers
or
duffers
. The most notable one was
Harry Redford
who established a reputation as an accomplished drover when he stole 1,000 cattle from
Bowen Downs Station
near
Longreach, Queensland
in 1870 and drove them 1,500 miles (2,400 km). His route took him through very difficult country down the
Thomson
,
Barcoo
,
Cooper
and
Strezlecki
rivers thus pioneering the
Strzelecki Track
.
[15]
Women have been noted as exceptional drovers as well. One of the true legends of the outback is Edna Zigenbine, better known as
Edna Jessop
,
[16]
who took over a droving job from her injured father, and became a boss drover at 23. Along with her brother Andy and four ringers, they moved the 1,550 bullocks the 2,240 kilometres across the
Barkly Tableland
to
Dajarra
, near
Mount Isa
,
Queensland
.
Droving in popular culture
[
edit
]
Much literature has been written about droving, particularly balladic poetry.
An idealised image of the droving life is described in the poem
Clancy of the Overflow
,
[17]
and more realistically depicted in the historical film
The Overlanders
.
[18]
- also performed by
John Williamson
- also performed by
John Williamson
See also
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Droving
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Chisholm, Alec H.".
The Australian Encyclopaedia
. Sydney: Halstead Press. 1963.
- ^
Taylor, Peter,
Pastoral Properties of Australia
,
George Allen & Unwin
, 1984
- ^
a
b
c
d
Cole, V. G. (1978),
Beef Production Guide
, Parramatta: Macarthur Press,
ISBN
0-9599973-1-8
- ^
Blair, Barry, "World's largest rail-trucking area",
Northern Daily Leader
, 31 July 2010
- ^
"
Eyre, Edward John (1815?1901)
",
Australian Encyclopaedia
(
Michigan State University Press
, 1958).
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Foster R., Nettelbeck A. (2011),
Out of the Silence
,
p. 32-39
(
Wakefield Press
).
- ^
"
Eyre, Edward John (1815?1901)
",
Dictionary of Australian Biography
(
Angus and Robertson
, 1949).
- ^
"
Lord Stanley
to
Sir George Gipps
(21 February, 1842)",
Historical Records of Australia
, Series I,
Volume XXI
, p. 695-701 (Sydney: Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament).
- ^
"Despatch from
Governor Grey
to
Lord John Russell
(May 29, 1841)",
Accounts and Papers 1843
,
Volume 3
(London:
William Clowes and Sons
), p. 267-272.
- ^
"The Bench of Magistrates and the Late Fatal Affray with the Natives"
,
Southern Australian
, p. 3, 21 September 1841 – via
Trove
.
- ^
"
Fatal Affray With The Natives In South Australia: Report of Mr. Moorhouse to His Excellency the Governor
",
Port Phillip Patriot and Melbourne Advertiser
, 14 October 1841, p. 2 ? via
Trove
.
- ^
Coupe, Sheena (gen. ed.),
Frontier Country
, Vol. I, Weldon Russell, Willoughby, 1989,
ISBN
1-875202-00-5
- ^
"Lake Argyle Village"
.
The Sydney Morning Herald
. 8 February 2004
. Retrieved
25 October
2018
.
- ^
"Register of Heritage Places ? Assessment Documentation ? Fossil Downs Homestead"
(PDF)
. 1996. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 12 March 2012
. Retrieved
25 June
2011
.
- ^
Chisholm, Alec H., ed. (1963).
The Australian Encyclopaedia
. Sydney, NSW: The Grolier Society of Australia. pp. II?299.
- ^
Edna Zigenbine, a biographical sketch and poem by Jack Sammon
Archived
22 August 2007 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
Clancy of the Overflow. A.B.Paterson. Illustrations by Kilmeny Niland
- ^
The Overlanders
Archived
31 August 2007 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
McLeod's Daughters (season 8)
External links
[
edit
]
Video, September 2013, one of the largest Australian cattle drives in 100 years.
- 18,000 head 1,500 kilometres. Whole mob is 80 kilometres long.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Willey, Keith (1982)
The Drovers
Melbourne, Macmillan,
ISBN
0-333-33830-8
- Barker, H M (1994)
Droving Days
Carlisle, WA, Hesperian Press,
ISBN
0-85905-197-8
- Harris, Douglas (1982)
Drovers of the Outback
Camberwell, Vic, Nan Rivett,
ISBN
0-9593671-2-8
- Briffa, Merrice (2002)
Wind on The Cattle
, Oxley, Qld, Auscribe Enterprises,
ISBN
0-95811790X