In 1924, The Mail (newspaper) reported that Professor Walter
Howchin unearthed the bones of a Diprotodon at Gawler. It also reported that
other bones had been found in the bed of the River Torrens, and at Lake
Callabonna in the States far north.[1]
In 1936, describing Gawler’s
river system, the Bunyip newspaper referred to a Kaurna people allegory of the
Moole Yerke Perre, a large ‘weird antediluvian monster (that) was responsible
for the permanent marks made by its nose and shins,’ in the riverbeds and
banks. The Bunyip reporter then links this creature to the 1891 discovery of Diprotodon
fossils in Gawler.[2]
The Bunyip reported on the original 1891 find of bones,
Scientific Discovery at Gawler South.
REMAINS OF A DIPROTODON FOUND.
A discovery of more than ordinary interest was made at Gawler South
a few days ago by some workmen who were excavating a tank on the property of
Mr. Thomas Molan. When they had sunk
about 8 ft. they came upon a deposit of bones. At first, they took very little
notice, and as they were very crumbly shovelled them out with the clay.
After a time the size of some of the bones
attracted their curiosity, and one of the members of the Gawler Geological
Class having been communicated with it was thought to be the remains of the
extinct Australian marsupial, the diprotodon.
Mr. W. Howchin, F.G.S., the lecturer of the Gawler Geological
and Mineralogical Class was informed, and came up on Wednesday afternoon. He at
once confirmed the opinion. Bones continued to show themselves right across the
tank and to a depth of 11 ft. At the latter depth a portion of the head was
unearthed, and as it was desired to get it out as perfectly as possible it was
decided to obtain the services of Mr. A. Zielz, of the Adelaide Museum.
That gentleman came up yesterday morning, and completed
the exhumation, although he had to be content to get the head out in pieces. The diprotodon is
said to have lived in the post-Pliocene age — before the age of man and was
about the size of an elephant. Its head was about 3 ft. in length. Very few remains
of the species have been discovered, and the best skeleton is said to be in possession
of the Adelaide Museum it having been obtained from the Burra district recently.
No complete skeleton, however, has yet been found. It is impossible to tell yet
how complete the present skeleton is as the bones are so broken, but Mr. Zietz
does not think it will be as perfect as that obtained from the Burra.
All the bones were carefully packed in cases
with sawdust preparatory to being sent to the Adelaide Museum for
reconstruction. Just as they were about to be taken away the owner of the property
appeared on the scene and declined to allow them to go to Adelaide unless he was
paid £10. As Mr. Zietz could not promise that amount without consulting his Committee,
the cases were placed in the hands of Mr. E. Potter, the Chairman of the Gawler Geological
Class, until a decision is arrived at.
A large number of persons visited the
scene of the discovery yesterday. Mr. W. H. Percy, who was working on the property,
rendered valuable assistance in getting the remains out, and the contractor, Mr.
James Peek offered every facility.[3]
Perhaps, when recollecting in a 1952 issue of The
Advertiser Ernest L.B. Potter of Croydon, he remembered wrongly that his uncle
Edward Potter had discovered the Diprotodon, instead of Professor Howchin. In
an Out Among the People column, it was reported,
ERNEST L. B. Potter (West Croydon) tells me that as a boy of
10, about 1890, he remembers a diprotodon skull being found in an excavation
for an underground tank at Gawler South, near Dead Man's Pass on the South Para
and the road to One Tree Hill. His uncle, Edward Potter, a geologist,
pronounced it to be a diprotodon.[4]
The skull and bones found in Gawler were identified as those
of a Diprotodon from the Pleistocene Epoch of Australia. Diprotodon Optatum became extinct about 25,
000 years ago and was known to exist while indigenous populations were in the
area. These animals grew up to 3.8 meters long from head to tail and stood
about 1.7 meters tall at the shoulder. Its closest relations today are
the wombat and the koala.
<Transcript>
Before European settlement, Dead Man’s Pass and the Gawler region was the
home to the indigenous Kaurna Peoples.
Known
originally to European settlers as The Para Pass, the river crossing was first
used circa 1836. Colonel William Light is recorded as having stayed at a camp
near the pass in 1837, while exploring the Barossa Valley region and attempting
to find passage through the Mount Lofty Ranges towards the Murray River.
The crossing got its name after an exploration
party returning from the Barossa ranges came across an exhausted traveller,
whom they offered respite too. Once stopped at the crossing they checked on
their new companion who had fallen asleep in the back of their dray, only to
find him dead.
Having
no tools with which to dig a grave, they placed his body upright in a hollow
tree and covered it as best they could with sticks and branches.
Not
long after, another travelling party happened across the gruesome site, and,
after taking samples of the gentleman’s clothing, encased him with clay in the
tree. The name “Dead Man’s Pass” was adopted circa 1842 as the permanent name
of the South Para River ford, in honour of the dead man found in the hollow
coffin tree.
There
are many different accounts of the finding of the dead man. No one is certain
which account is true. Perhaps there is a little truth to be found within each
version of the story.
Dr George Nott wrote of finding the dead man
in 1860 in his book: Short Sketch of the Rise of Progress of Gawler.
In his diary Colonel Light wrote: “13th January 1839. Returned to the Para. We
halted here the rest of the day. Having heard of a dead body being there under
an old tree, we examined the spot and found it. There is a mystery in this
affair as it had been kept a secret. The skull is large, and the flesh almost
entirely gone. Part of his dress remained. His trousers of corduroy seemed good
as far as his knees - under those much torn. His short on one part contained
much coagulated blood. The body was covered over again and some of his clothes
packed up and conveyed to Adelaide.”
In the book “The Story of Dead Man’s Pass” The
Honourable B.T. Finnis of Gawler wrote a story with a slight variation to
Colonel Light’s.
“Travelling with Colonel Light on one occasion before the
selection of the Gawler Survey, we camped at the Gawler River and whilst
resting there we were surprised to find a dead man buried in an upright
position and plastered with clay. No part of his body was visible except the
toes. The
wild dogs had evidently discovered the corpse and had somewhat mangled the
feet. It was evidently a white man’s burial place from the clothes. The story
that was circulated in Adelaide as to the cause of the death of this
unfortunate man originated with a party under the charge of
Mr Bernhard. It was stated that travelling to the north, having a dray with
them, on nearing the ford of the Gawler River, a man in a distressed state
rushed from the scrub west of the line of the road and fell down in an
exhausted state, perishing for want of food and water. He was taken
every care of, but died very soon after meeting this party, which precede ours
on the way north. They had buried him in this tree and plastered him in to save
his body from the wild dogs. We afterwards called this tree
“Dead Man’s Tree,” a large hollow gum tree. The dead man was supposed to have
been a sailor, escaped from some ship off Port Gawler, who had lost himself in
the scrub in his endeavour to reach Adelaide, and thus perished miserably.”
In yet
another variation, The Southern Australian newspaper on the 16th of
January 1839 published an article titled “Suspicious
case”. Which read; “The body of a man, buried some time ago in the bush to
the northward, was exhumed last week by Colonel Light and Mr Finniss whilst
those gentlemen were out on their surveying expedition, and it was found that
the shirt, vest and trousers of the deceased were stained with blood, and his
pockets were turned inside out. The clothes were brought to Adelaide for
examination by the authorities and we hope a strict investigation into the
affair
will be held. At the time of the reported death of this man in the bush, many
months ago, no inquest was held, as there ought to have been, and we trust the
coroner will not be allowed to neglect his duty.”
Dead
Man’s Pass became a much-used crossing into the main street of Gawler as the
only roadway for bullock drays and horse and carts. The ford crossing became a
secondary way into town once a new bridge was built in the 1860’s on the
Adelaide Road.
In 1869, Gawler Council surveyed a new roadway
at Dead Man’s Pass. Council workers began constructing the new road and came
upon a skull and bones. Examining further, they found an almost complete
skeleton. The bones were taken to office of James Martin and examined by Doctor
Nott. Dr Nott concluded that they were the bones of a very tall European man
owing to the size of the thigh bones. It is thought the bones were those of
the man buried in the base of a tree some 30 years prior. The unknown man’s
remains were interred in an unmarked grave in the newly formed Gawler Cemetery,
now known as Pioneer Park.
In May
1890, a footbridge was installed at Dead Man’s Pass, erected by Mr T White.
In 1901,
Patrick Condon, a Gawler Corporation employee had a fatal accident when his
night cart flipped when it fell down an embankment, and landed on him, killing
him.
Also, in
1901, a young crippled boy was found dead in Black Hole billabong at Dead Man’s
Pass. Anton Johann Link's clothing were found on the banks of the billabong by
another young lad, who went to search for him, only to find Anton floating in
the water, dead.
In 1914,
Mr S. Fotheringham held the town of Gawler to ransom. The Dead Man’s Pass
footbridge crossed the river onto his land. He offered to sell the portion of
land to the council for 50 pounds, or that they pay him 8 pounds a year in
rent. Both the East and West Munno Para District Councils (The Two Councils
governing Gawler at the time.) agreed to buy the land, but ultimately the East
Munno Para Council refused. Fotheringham, in response to the refusal, fenced
his end of the walkway bridge with barbed wire, and threatened to cut down the
tree on his property that the bridge was suspended from. In April the same year,
an agreement was made with Mr Fotheringham, and the bridge reopened.
Floods
in 1917 extensively damaged the footbridge, with water being recorded as being
as high as Ayers Road and reaching the buildings of the former gasworks
In 1923,
raging flood water washed the old footbridge away…the bridge was repaired in
1924 and stood in place until the early 1980s when it was finally removed for
public safety
In 1952,
The Advertiser reported that Ernest L.B. Potter of Croydon, recollected that
when he was 10 years old, his uncle Edward Potter, a geologist, uncovered a
large skull while digging a hole for an underground water tank. The skull was
found to be that of a Diprotodon which is from the Pleistocene Epoch of
Australia. Diprotodon Optatum became extinct about 25, 000 years ago and was
known to exist while indigenous populations were in the area. These animals
grew up to 3.8 meters long from head to tail and stood about 1.7 meters tall at
the shoulder. Its closest relations today are the
wombat and the koala.
There
are many stories of paranormal encounters at Dead Man’s Pass. If one cares to
visit the “Ghost village” website, one can read the story of a young man and
his mate who were riding their bikes down first street. They were going too
fast, and one kept hearing a voice in his ear say, “go right!” indicating to
turn right into Gawler Terrace. The boy didn’t have much time to make a
choice, if he swept left around the dead man’s pass bend he would go into
oncoming traffic, if he managed to turn right, he wouldn’t make the turn. Going against his instincts, he turned
right, and ploughed straight into the curb, flying through the air, and hitting
a massive gum tree. He lay there stunned.He looked up and saw two figures standing
over him. A man and woman. The man said, "You're lucky to be alive,
lad," and the Lady said, "Take heed, boy, you only get one chance
like this!"…
The boys
mate came over to see if he was ok. Laying on the ground, without a scratch on
him, he asked his mate where the old people had gone. His mate replied that he
hadn’t seen anyone, but he had heard his friend talking to someone. He then
said he had watched him fly through the air, over 33 feet of gravel, and then
land, almost softly on the big gum tree.
The land at Dead Man’s Pass has previously
been owned by the Pile Family, and from 1907, the Riggs Family, who allowed the
Gawler Three Day horse Events to run across their land. In 1978, Gawler Council
purchased 20 Acres of Dead Man’s Pass and designated it a reserve.
Today
Dead man’s pass is a beautifully kept park with walking, cycling and nature
trails. It is home to many native birds and animals and is easily accessed and
explored.
Thank
you for watching Hidden Secrets. <End Transcript>
Researched, filmed, edited and produced by Allen Tiller.
