Eugowra

Once I finished my visit to Forbes I drove 36km (25 minutes) east over to Eugowra. Eugowra was the next place I wanted to visit on my little road trip. It was started to get late in the afternoon and being summer it gave me enough time to have a little walk around the town before I had to get back in the car and make my way home back to Bathurst before it got too dark (I don’t like driving in the dark) as it took me roughly 1 hour 40 minutes to get back to Bathurst via Orange.

So I found out about this little town from an instagram post. Someone posted a photo of the above mural, so I looked up its location in google maps and I was surprised to learn that it was relatively close to me. As I had already planned to visit Grenfell and Forbes I thought I could make a loop so I could add this town on my travels. Other than seeing a photo on instagram I had no idea what the town was like.

Fun little fact: Granite from the surrounding area of Eugowra was quarried and used in the construction of Parliament House in Canberra.

This was the first mural I spotted as I drove into the town. This is The Escort Gold Robbery scene.

I have since learnt that one of the biggest events to happen to this town was on 16 June 1862 Frank Gardiner and his gang of bushrangers held up an armed gold escort on its way to Bathurst and stole 2,719 ounces of gold (84.56 kg) and £3,700 in cash. This turned out to be very worthwhile for the gang, who got away with fourteen thousand pounds worth of gold and banknotes. It was the biggest gold robbery in Australia’s history and in today’s money would be worth about $8 million.

Eugowra Murals

In 2012 Eugowra created a committee, the aim is to bring Eugowra back to life and attract visitor’s to their town. The town has over 36 murals representation of the stories of Eugowra and the district. The committee hosts an event annually where artists come to the town to paint murals each year. The event is growing with more artists arriving to the town to help create these murals.

Origin of the towns name

In 1834 a European settler established 'Eugowra station’ in the area. The town takes its name from the property which I believe is the same property or close to where the gold escort was robbed. It has been claimed that the name Eugowra is a Wiradjuri word meaning "the place where the sand washes down from the hills".

Escort Rock

Located 3 km east of Eugowra, along the Escort Way, is Escort Rock where, on 15 June, 1862 Frank Gardiner and his gang of bushrangers pulled off the biggest gold robbery in Australian history. They ambushed the gold escort travelling from Forbes to Bathurst and successfully stole 2,719 ounces of gold (84.56 kg) and £3,700 in cash. At midday every Sunday a coach and horses owned by Ford & Co (Bought out by Cobb & Co a year later) headed off from Bray’s Great Eastern Hotel in Lachlan Street, Forbes to transport gold to the larger centre of Bathurst. This was an official shipment which was transported by a coach driver accompanied by four police troopers.

On Sunday 15 June, 1862 at 3:30pm the coach reached Eugowra. Just beyond Eugowra, at a place called Escort Rock, the track narrowed and made its way up a gully. This was the perfect place for an ambush. There were large granite boulders where Gardiner and his gang on horses could hide and the steepness of the track meant the coach had to slow down.

Gardiner had created a gang of seven men, most of whom were relatively poor cattlemen. They were not vicious men but they realised that a lot of money and gold was at stake. To improve their chances of success the gang managed to stop two bullock teams in the middle of the track. They forced the bullock drivers to lie down beside the road and act as though they were drunk or asleep. The gold escort was starting to make its way below Escort Rock and up Mandagery Creek when it saw the bullock teams stopped across the road. The driver Jack Fagan called out to the bullockies to move their teams off the road and with the escort brought to a halt Frank Gardiner and his gang attacked.

The driver Jack Fagan jumped off the coach and ran for the bushes. The horses frightened by the gunfire and the shouting reared up, bolted and the coach tipped over on its side. The troopers followed Jack Fagan’s lead and escaped down the hill towards the Eugowra homestead. Jack Fagan’s hat was shot off his head and three of the four policemen wounded. Constable William Havilland was the first officer in the new Police Service to be killed on duty. Constable William Havilland was accidentally shot at Orange whilst returning from Eugowra Rocks, where he had been guarding the gold escort which had earlier been bailed up by bushrangers.

Within a few minutes it was over the bushrangers loaded the gold and cash onto one of the coach horses, retrieved their horses which had been hidden in the bush and headed off.

The next day, news of the robbery reached Forbes that night. A local squatter Hanbury Clements had ridden to Forbes and alerted the authorities. Frank Gardiner’s hideout was well located with good views. When the gang saw the police approaching they escaped the hideout. The coach horse that was carrying the gold was exhausted so the gang left it behind and took the cash. Only Frank Gardiner and Ben Hall attempted to carry the gold with them. Within a day most of the gold had been recovered.

Gardiner’s Gang

Frank Gardiner (Gang Leader) was captured in Queensland. Served 10 years jail before he was exiled to America. He went to San Francisco where he died in 1904 aged 74.

John O’Meally was a stockman. John was shot dead at Goimbla 19 November 1863 aged 23.

Ben Hall was a cattleman and joint owner of Sandy Creek Station. Ben Hall formed a gang and for the next three years was a very successful bushranger working mainly on the Sydney to Melbourne road around Goulburn. He was eventually cornered by troopers west of Forbes and shot and killed on 5 May 1865 aged 27. He is buried in Forbes cemetery. (Photo of his grave on my Forbes blog post)

John Gilbert left home at age 12 as he was attracted by the excitement of crime and joined Frank Gardiner’s gang. John was shot near Forbes on 13 May 1865 aged 23.

Henry Manns was a self employed carrier Known as a Bullocky. Henry was captured and he was hanged on 26 March 1863 aged 22. Henry is buried in the cemetery at Campbelltown.

Alex Fordyce was a stockman. Alex was sentenced to 10 years hard labour.

John Bow was a stockman on Nowland’s Wentworth Gully Station. John was sentenced to 10 years hard labour.

Dan Charters was a cattleman and manager of the pinnacle cattle station. On the 14 August 1862 Dan turned himself in to the police at Forbes in exchange for a pardon.

Frank Gardiner and his gang mural in Eugowra.

Heritage listed site: Escort Way - Escort Rock

Fat Lamb Hotel

The first building was erected in 1866 on this site in the middle of what was to become Eugowra. It was licensed to sell alcohol and became the Eugowra hotel later that year. A post office was added in 1873. It was later renamed the John Bull Inn, the Eugowra Hotel later again then the Club House Hotel from 1912. In 1926, it was mostly demolished and remodelled but was still the Club House until 1958 when it became the Fat Lamb Hotel.

On 22 October 2012 early in the morning the historic Fat Lamb Hotel was burnt down. Fire crews were called to the scene just before 6am after a local shop owner noticed the blaze.

As always please leave a comment below if I have any information incorrect so I can amend it or if there are any key factors I have missed that I should add to this blog post.

Nadine Travels West.