Pat Ritter. Books

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'The Drover' - Page 96:

‘He’ll take the older boys to work with him. He couldn’t be expected to look after the twins; Anna would turn over in her grave to know I didn’t look after them.’
‘Yes, we have a responsibility. It’ll be tough but I agree Anna would have done the same for us in a similar situation.’
Rose at that moment forgot about her own self pity and made up her mind to take care of the children. It would make their family twelve children. The kids would need to get on with each other or else.
Rose put her arms around Harry’s neck and lightly kissed him on the lips, ‘you are a good man Harry Williams and that’s why I love you so much.’
Harry returned her kiss and whispered, ‘it’s great to have you back Rose. I love you too. We’ll get there – don’t you worry about a thing.’ They fell into a deep sleep holding one another in their arms.
Early the next morning Harry and Rose spoke to Les about their decision. Les sobbed, through tears in his eyes tried to thank his precious brother-in-law and sister-in-law in doing what they would be taking on.
‘I’ll help when I can, I’ll try and pay you when I can but thank you, it’s a huge relief to know my children will be raised by a good family.’
‘What’s family for if we can’t help one another.’ Rose interrupted.
‘Can I tell the children?’ Les requested.
‘Yeah, of course, I’ll tell Claire and Louise, Annie is too young to know the difference.’
At the dinner table that night, twelve children sat around the table to enjoy their meal. Harry sat at the head of the table with Rose by his right hand side. Everything would turn out right; Harry would make certain it did.

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'The Drover' - Page 97:

Months went by and believe it or not the family became one. Rose had more washing and ironing to do and when possible Claire helped as did some of the older children.

Harry returned from one of his trips to meet his new family. The older children called him Uncle Harry and called Rose Auntie or aunt.
When in bed that night Harry thanked Rose for helping him make the decision to look after his sister’s children. His voice rang with a little excitement when he told Rose he had a drove of 500 head of cattle from Bulloo Downs to Clifton Hills in South Australia.
‘This will be enough to keep us going for the next twelve months, Love.’ He told Rose with a dash of excitement in his voice.
‘What are you talking about Harry? Do you want me and the kids to come along? What about the little ones. It’s a long time on the road for them.’
‘It’ll be right. I’ll ask Les to come along and I’ll need a few more ringers. It’s like as if Anna sent this to me from her grave. What’re think Love?’
Rose couldn’t think, what she was thinking was how in blazes she would care for twelve children, a couple in nappies, living out of the back of a truck and crossing the harshest country in south-west Queensland for the next twelve months. If Harry wanted to do it then that was it; she would go along with him.
‘Yes, of course I’d love to go. I couldn’t think to be away from you for twelve months.’

Early the next morning he contacted Dennis Cottrell, the manager of Bulloo Downs to accept the job.
Harry found Les at his home, ‘how’s everything going?’ He asked.
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'The Drover' - Page 98:

Les was seated on the front steps of the house smoking a cigarette and gazing into space.
‘I’m trying to get on with life but it’s tough without Anna.’ He told Harry.
‘I have some good news.’
‘What – it’d want to be good.’
‘How would you like to come on a droving trip with Rose and me?’
‘Where’re you going?’
‘From Bulloo Downs to Clifton Hills in South Australia, it’ll take about twelve months.’
‘Well, I’ve got nothing better to do. I’ll bring along the boy as the horse tailer. When do we head off?’ Les’s voice gained a little excitement. It would do him good to go on the road again. He’d never been with Harry but he was rest assured they’d work well together.

Bullo Downs is a property, 150 kilometres south of Thargomindah and managed by Dennis Cottrell, a tough bushman in his own right. The property stretched from New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland borders one of the largest cattle stations in south-west corner of the State. It was large enough to be the size of a small country, the like of Wales in England.
Dennis Cottrell’s reputation as a grazier in the harsh outback was a legend. His workers respected him as their Boss, their loyalty ran through their veins and they did what was expected, to go to the end of the earth, to get the job done. Mustering camps of mainly males were made up of ringers, station hands, a camp cook and jackaroos.
Three mustering camps were absent from the main homestead for half the year, to muster cattle, wean calves, castrate and brand all unbranded stock. It was hot and tough work from sunlight

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'The Drover' - Page 99:

In the outback ringers rode their horses through all sessions and places. It was gibber country – open plain and timber scarce. One beast to every 100 acres was the count if the seasons were good otherwise the country only bred kangaroos and emus. This was a drought year.
In one mustering camp the men mustered 500 of the best shorthorn bullocks on the property and were ready for drover Harry Williams to take overland to Clifton Hills in South Australia. It would be a tough and arduous journey.
Bulloo Downs homestead surroundings is the size of a small country town with their local sheriff Dennis Cottrell to administer law and order. The main homestead was huge in size compared to similar homesteads in the district. Gauzed in verandas avoided the immense fly population. In the middle of summer the heat rose to well above 50 degrees Celsius making the flies target human perspiration. Black with flies on the back of a worker’s shirt was likened to bees to a honey pot.
A covered in vestibule separated the main homestead from the kitchen, a building sufficient size for a stove feed by wood to keep it going all through the year. A cook employed by the station lived in quarters adjoining the kitchen with another small room to house the cowboy. It was the cowboy’s job to have sufficient wood in the kitchen to fuel the stove so the cook prepared all meals for the men including the Boss and his family.
From the kitchen along a walkway, a long building, similar to a dormitory, housed the men working on the station. The outbuildings and stables was similar to a scene from the movie Fight at the OK Corral with huge open stock yards to draft and work cattle.
Many a young boy arrived at Bulloo Downs wanting to become a stockman and left as a man. They travelled by the Westlander, a train from the city to Cunnamulla and the final leg to Thargomindah by mail truck. Life was rough and tough with long days in the saddle.

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'The Drover' - Page 100:

The overland drove was about to begin at daybreak with 500 bullocks driven from Bulloo Downs in south-west of Thargomindah on the Bulloo River, through to Cooper Creek onto Birdsville to Clifton Hills in South Australia, a journey to take 12 months.
‘G’day Dennis,’ Harry said taking a firm grip of Dennis’s hand as a welcome.
‘Good to see you again, Harry’. They’d known one another for many years.
‘We’re ready to take your cattle – they look in good order.’ Harry replied in his deep western drawl.
Both men respected each other in their own field of expertise. Dennis knew Harry Williams was the best and most honest drover in the Cunnamulla/Thargomindah district.
In turn, Harry knew he trusted Dennis to be fair and honest as long as he got the cattle to the destination in better condition than they were when he took delivery.
Once the cattle left the property Harry Williams was in charge; his responsibility, to deliver the cattle to Clifton Hills in good condition and not lose any along the way.
Both men sat on the top rail of the cattle yards, their eyes flicking from one beast to another. Harry slowly drew on his tailor made cigarette, a curl of smoke past his eyes, his face skewed to show wrinkles and age, his mind completely focused on the task ahead.
‘They look a good mob?’ He repeated as he looked across to Dennis to get a response.
‘They’re the best we’ve got. I’ve put a few more in for killers. There should be enough to get you thorough. The rain hasn’t come this year and if we don’t move them off now they won’t be good for anything. You know what the country’s like out here when there’s no rain.’ Dennis voiced in his slow western drawl.

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'The Drover' - Page 101:

‘We might get winter rain and hopefully the rivers are flowing when we’re on the move.’ Both men couldn’t talk any more because once they mentioned the weather and the stock – that was it, their conversation limited.
In the outback it was always taken as part of life, a drover was a few runs below on the social status ladder to a grazier.
Harry Williams always felt he did a good job at what he did but when it came to mixing with the cockies; it wasn’t the same as mixing with drovers and ringers. He knew how to talk with other drovers and ringers and felt comfortable in their company but when it came to conversing with cockies he felt intimidated in what to say. His life was the wide open spaces with stock routes his boundaries. He didn’t need to be a cockie or grazier to prove what to do. His life was carefree with open plains and no boundary fences.
When Harry was asked to take the cattle, his imagination went wild; he had never before taken 500 bullocks from Queensland to South Australia. His decision to follow the stock routes, traverse many properties along the way, his knowledge of the area depended wholly on word-of-mouth from other drovers or property owners when he passed through.
There are no maps or roadways, only the sign showing Stock Route to guide where he had to go. Harry would scout ahead to find water for the stock. Ten miles per day was a common distance for the stock to travel.
Harry’s day started before the morning sun burst across the horizon and finished when it sunk below the western horizon. There was no time piece to gauge the time of the day, his job only to take the cattle from one point to the next.
He was astonished to be given the job in the first place to drive the cattle from Bullo Downs to Clifton Hills.
In his life as a drover this was by far the longest drive he’d ever undertaken. Apart from the family to help him he employed five aboriginal stockmen. Les accompanied Harry and had with him his 12 years old son Greg to help, who was responsible for horse tailing; particularly riding the first shift on the Nighthorse and to make sure all the horses were shod. Although Greg was 12 he worked as hard as any man.
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'The Drover' - Page 102:

Harry was satisfied with his camp but with the recent loss of his sister he knew his brother-in-law was finding it tough and partial to a drop of rum but on any droving trip alcohol was not included.
Droving 500 head of cattle was a huge task and Harry being the Boss Drover had the responsibility to ensure the cattle were delivered on time and in better condition than they were before they left Bulloo Downs. There were many things could go wrong and hopefully Harry’s craft as a drover excelled in his ability of a lifetime of droving that nothing went wrong on the trip.
He had his own worries; Rose was now responsible for twelve children all under the age of nine years including infant twin boys.
Before Harry and Rose made the decision to take on the children they spoke about the consequences. This was a lifetime commitment; it was not only this droving trip but afterwards for the next decade and a half raising the children. It would be tough but each agreed; there was much they would go without.
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