Things
From the arrival of the first Europeans in the area in the late 1830's until the late 1870's there had been nothing but change. The aborigines were the first to suffer from this change but soon the kangaroos and other local wildlife had to come to terms with sheep cattle men horses and dogs etc. While the environment had a short reprieve, gold frenzy had no respect for waterways or other things that got in the way. The lack of adequate land and Australia's hash climate meant that small scale selectors like the Kellys had little chance to enjoy their world.
The discovery of gold and in particular the riches of Beechworth initially gave work to thousands. Initially the Kellys home at Greta was on one of the main routes used by the carriers taking all kinds of things to Victoria's 4th largest city. By the early 1870s all that ended with the arrival of the railway line from Melbourne to Beechworth via places like Glenrowan.
The railway with the telegraph were used against the KellyGang by the police. With the railway they could move policemen and horses all over the Kelly Country in a short time and the telegraph gave them instant communications between stations. But in a very real way they caused their own problems.
When people see books like that written by Keith McMenomy and see exhibitions
of the KellyGang, they are struck by the
fact that many aspects of the events were recorded by photographers.
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Find the hiding places and sites where the KellyGang found fame and fortune and where their friends indulged in horse stealing and tried to make a life against the challenges of the squatters and banks. Let the KellyGang show you the places where they found safety from the law in the bush.