Cattle drive in the fifties from Bourke to Lake Cargelligo.
Related by Tom Holmes to Eddie Vagg on 2nd August 2011.
Dalgetys alerted Dave Cleaver to a big mob of cattle at Bourke.
Dave, Matt Hooker, Tom Meadows, Eddie Meadows decided that they would drive them back to the Lake and split them up when they got back.
Tom Holmes had cut his leg badly getting fence posts with his grandfather Tom Meadows.
Tom was on light duties so was seconded as a member of the droving team along with Des Vagg both still youngsters. Tom was 19 Des about 20.
Des had been a member of Daves shearing team.
They were given a mob of horses for the run. Tom Holmes picked out a little quiet white pony, no saddle.
There was a good looking horse that hadn’t been ridden and old Tom Meadows said it needed a breaker.
“Give me a saddle and I will ride it”, said Des. Bucked like hell but he stayed with it. Gave the saddle back and rode it bareback for the rest of the trip.
Matt Hooker had an old truck as the chuck waggon .
There were horse and carts and Eddie Meadows had a cut down car for a ute which wife Fay would run as a messenger vehicle to get supplies when needed.
She had Glenda and I imagine Carmel with her as they were only todlers.
A huge camp oven was constanly full of stew made from sheep sometimes beef as deals were made with passing stations.
Ollie Germine from Twin Wells between Cobar and Mount Hope was one noted station owner.
The camp oven was kept on Matt Hookers truck with a weight of something like a sugar bag on it to stop it from spilling.
Reheated over the campfire at tucker time. Pumpkins whole would be put in the camp oven after seeds removed.
They would kill and salt meat. Old Tom had a cool safe for fresh meat. They did the trip in winter/ spring weather, cooler, sometimes wet. Made old Toms damper making difficult.
Lots of yarns round campfire. Old Tom was as a bullock driver. He once was called on during the floods to get 90 bales of wool out of Merrigal and bring them 40k to the rail head a Lake Cargelligo. the trucks couldn’t get in.
Old Tom would ride back miles to an emu nest to collect eggs to make omlets. The old hen would keep laying.
The cattle were corralled at night with ringlock . They were a quiet mob of mixed breeds.
Old Tom rounded up a killer himself when he got to Cowan Downs. He used to work there dam sinking with his bullocks so felt entitled to one or two.
The station owners were welcoming so they did get to have a shower but it was mostly a dip in a dam.
The young fellows were paid five pounds a day. They were on the road for about 2 months. I remember brother Des coming home. He had a big black beard.
Eddie Vagg
CargelligoWetlands 