Stockmen: the cowboys of the Outback
Printed From: History Community ~ All Empires
Category: Regional History or Period History
Forum Name: History of Oceania, South-East Asia and Pacific
Forum Discription: Discuss the history of SE Asia: Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore etc.
URL: http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=30019
Printed Date: 25-Apr-2024 at 04:15
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 9.56a - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Stockmen: the cowboys of the Outback
Posted By: Nick1986
Subject: Stockmen: the cowboys of the Outback
Date Posted: 12-Aug-2011 at 20:19
|
Our next Australian history topic will focus on the stockmen: mounted herdsmen who worked on a large property called a station: the Aussie equivalent of the ranch. Stockmen camped near the herd and would sleep around the fire wrapped in their blanket rolls. Like the American working cowboy, they faced many dangers: cattle thieves, venomous snakes and wild animals like the dingo, a beast every bit as cunning and vicious as the coyote ------------- Me Grimlock not nice Dino! Me bash brains! |
Replies:
Posted By: Nick1986
Date Posted: 13-Aug-2011 at 19:53
After a long day it was time to boil the billycan on the campfire. Note the bedroll on the log. Being the sons of English immigrants, it's likely the stockmen drank tea rather than the black coffee of the American cowboy ------------- Me Grimlock not nice Dino! Me bash brains! |
Posted By: Nick1986
Date Posted: 15-Aug-2011 at 19:38
|
Stockmen also used a unique slang similar to that of the cowboys. A Jackaroo was the Aussie counterpart of the Old West Buckaroo: a trainee cowboy ------------- Me Grimlock not nice Dino! Me bash brains! |
Posted By: Centrix Vigilis
Date Posted: 15-Aug-2011 at 20:18
|
Some decidedly tough lads given the terrain and the climate. ------------- "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" S. T. Friedman Pilger's law: 'If it's been officially denied, then it's probably true' |
Posted By: Lawnmowerman
Date Posted: 16-Aug-2011 at 08:25
|
Deffinatly tea, no coffee at all.
Had a couple of really cool experiences such as working with a member of the lost tribe (in an area where no white man had been before), with a guy who saw his first white man back in 1984, aged 25. He spoke very broken English and was informing us as to where the sacred sites where in the area.
When they wanted a billy (tea) they'd wander off into the bush and break a branch off a tree and place that in their billy (pot) to boil.
On-route to one sacred site (It was my job to record the co-ordinates on my GPS to prevent others going into the area) we saw some kangaroo's next thing I know we are bouncing through the bush at 60km/ph with one of the boys leaning out the window with his rifle trying to get a shot off.
We asked if we could go out on the salt lake near our camp, the boys said no, we asked if this was because it was a sacred site, the boys said no, evil spirits lived there and if we went onto the salt lake they would kill us.
So many memories of swag time, such as the time my boss pissed the drillers off and we had to break camp in the middle of the night, pack everything up and sneak off at 2am or face the very real threat of coping a beating. (my boss not me)
------------- |
Posted By: Nick1986
Date Posted: 16-Aug-2011 at 10:10
Excellent post Lawnmowerman. Hunting kangaroos from a moving car reminds me of that scene in the movie Australia.  What sort of tree did they usually boil in the billycan?------------- Me Grimlock not nice Dino! Me bash brains! |
Posted By: Nick1986
Date Posted: 18-Aug-2011 at 19:29
|
What sort of gun would the 19th century stockman typically carry? Would he have a sidearm like a Colt Navy or rely on a surplus military rifle like the Snider or Martini-Henry? ------------- Me Grimlock not nice Dino! Me bash brains! |
Posted By: Nick1986
Date Posted: 20-Oct-2011 at 19:27
What happened to my Aussie mate Lawnmowerman? I'd like to hear more about life in the bush  ------------- Me Grimlock not nice Dino! Me bash brains! |
Posted By: Nick1986
Date Posted: 03-Apr-2012 at 19:16
|
The "Tatars of Australia" were very proud of their identity. The stockman despised "crawling shepherds" who worked on foot and would go an indefinite distance out of his way to kick one http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=VwgwAAAAMAAJ&dq=australian%20stockman&pg=PA25#v=onepage&q&f=false - http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=VwgwAAAAMAAJ&dq=australian%20stockman&pg=PA25#v=onepage&q&f=false ------------- Me Grimlock not nice Dino! Me bash brains! |
Posted By: Nick1986
Date Posted: 06-Jul-2012 at 19:22
 A "stock whip," essential tool for the Aussie cowboy ------------- Me Grimlock not nice Dino! Me bash brains! |
Posted By: Nick1986
Date Posted: 13-Jul-2012 at 19:21
|
Description of a stockman, 1848 http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ii0wAQAAMAAJ&dq=australia%20stockmen&pg=PA491#v=onepage&q&f=false%20 - http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ii0wAQAAMAAJ&dq=australia%20stockmen&pg=PA491#v=onepage&q&f=false ------------- Me Grimlock not nice Dino! Me bash brains! |
Posted By: Nick1986
Date Posted: 10-Dec-2012 at 08:07
|
Aussie stockman's hall of fame http://www.outbackheritage.com.au/%20 - http://www.outbackheritage.com.au/ ------------- Me Grimlock not nice Dino! Me bash brains! |
Posted By: toyomotor
Date Posted: 03-Jan-2014 at 12:54
Australian Stockmen cannot be compared to the US cowboys. They may have had access to a rifle or a shotgun, but that was about it, and that more for use in disposing of sick and injured stock rather than people. Just a bunch of hard working, beer drinking blokes. |