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The Police Station at Mount McDonald near Cowra was staffed by trackers from 1883 to 1886 and probably earlier. Part of the Milburn Creek Gold Field, trackers played an important role in guarding the gold escort, a coach which traveled to Carcoar and sometimes Blayney carrying the miner’s finds. The tracker accompanied the escort and stayed overnight before returning to Mount McDonald the following day.
The Mount McDonald tracker was sometimes called to nearby towns to work on a case. In November 1884, Tracker Billy was sent to Carcoar to look for an offender. The previous month he took a horse and cart from Mount McDonald to Orange. In September the following year, Tracker Billy was part of a team looking for witnesses to the stealing of horse near Cowra. He was paid the standard wage of £4.13.0 per month for his efforts.[ref]Carcoar Police Diary of Duty and Occurrences SRNSW 7/6178.[/ref]
This website explores the history of Aboriginal trackers in NSW from 1862 when the current NSW Police Force was established through to 1973 when the last tracker, Norman Walford, retired. You can read about the lives of individual trackers and some of the incredible tracking feats they...
There were over 200 NSW police stations that employed Aboriginal trackers between 1862 and 1973. Many were concentrated in the central-west and north-west of the state, the agricultural and pastoral heartland of NSW. This is because one of the main jobs of trackers was to pursue sheep, cattle and horse thieves. Trackers sometimes lived in small huts out the back...
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Pathfinders book Pathfinders, A history of Aboriginal trackers in NSW, written by Dr Michael Bennett and published by NewSouth, is now available from all good bookstores. Click on the link below to order your copy. https://www.abbeys.com.au/book/pathfinders-a-history-of-aboriginal-trackers-in-nsw.do Early History Since the beginning of the colony, government agencies, explorers, surveyors and members of the general public called upon the tracking...
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