This is a personal history filled with all the colour and excitement of
frontier times. Starting in the 1860s and taking it right through to 1994,
Toohey succeeds in bringing to life the human stories of the founders of Mareeba,
Atherton, Herberton, Irvinebank, the Evelyn Tableland, Chillagoe, Ravenhoe,
Millaa Millaa and Malanda.
In the late nineteenth century a succession of trailblazers, gold, tin and
copper miners, timber cutters and selectors were drawn to the region.
Travelleing the early tracks as far north as Port Douglas and as far west as
Mount Garnet and Chillagoe were the mighty bullock and horse teams, tenacious
pack mules, the wonderful Cobb & Co. coaches and then the puffing billies.
The author also presents life histories and stories of the regions indigenous
people: the Yidinyji, the Dyirbal, the Ngadyan, the Mbabaram and the Cassowary
people.
Contents:
Foreword
A Message from the Mayor of Atherton
1. Emerald End: John Atherton's cattle run at Mareeba
2. Pathways: The Gillies Highway emerges from a packhorse trail
3. Herberton: The Tin-rush town of the 1880s
4. Milk and Honey: The first selectors on the Evelyn Tableland
5. Stage by Stage: By Cobb & Co. to the Gulf via the mining town of Watsonville,
Montalbion, Irvinebank, Newellton
6. Pockets in the Scrub: The founding of Atherton and its pioneering farms
7. Old Volcanoes: Ancient stories from Mount Bartle Frere, the crater lakes of
the Atherton Tableland, the Seven Sisters and the Boulders
8. The Forests: Tree landmarks on the Atherton Tableland
9. Caves: The Chillagoe copper mine and limestone caves
10. Camel Trains: Mining and cattle, the story of Mount Garnet, Coolgarra,
Woodleight and Mandalee
11. Cedar Creek: Stories from Ravenshoe and the Koombooloomba goldfields
12. Stringybark Country: The magnificent hardwood of the Evelyn Tableland
13. The Cassowary People: The Aboriginal people and the trailblazers of Millaa
Millaa
14. On Our Selection: Tales from early Malanda, Yungaburra and Kureen
Bibliography
Index
