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immediately, thereby attracting the attention of three young out-of-work miners camped by the
track, Tom Talbot, Dick Fosser and Harry Baker.
The three decided to follow, and more by luck than bush-lore found Bayley and Ford at work
on Fly Flat. They were not made welcome, and having camped by a rock-hole called
Koolgoorbidee, or Kulgardi, by the natives, began prospecting on their own account.
At first they found nothing. But in a few days the three new chums were rushing over to where
Bayley and Ford had pegged a claim nearby carrying samples from a big blow of quartz. Was it
fool's gold or the real thing? The twosome were cool and non-committal. But at dawn, as Tom,
Dick and Harry still slept, the other two examined the area of the chums' find and altered the
pegged shape of their claim, from a triangle to a 24-acre rectangle, to include the new find. Ford
did this, while Bayley delayed the wakening chums with chat at their camp.
The chums were outraged when they found out what had happened and protested strongly. But
a pegged claim was sacrosanct. They had been betrayed by their own naivety and ignorance,
and were advised by Bayley and Ford to peg out an adjacent claim. This they did, while Bayley
set off for Southern Cross to make their rectangular claim official. Ford stayed behind to guard
it.
So it was that Bayley's Find was made and named, Kulgardi becoming Coolgardie when
Warden Finnerty rode out to examine the site and assess its possibilities. The chums had indeed
found the cap of the reef, but it was now Bayley's, not Talbot's, and took his name, Bayley's
Reward.
His version of what happened at Fly Flat was as follows: 'On Sunday afternoon, while
fossicking around, we struck the reef... On Monday we pegged out a prospecting area on the
reef. That morning a party of three men came on the scene. They had followed us from
Southern Cross. That day we obtained 300 ounces from the cap of the reef. The party who had
followed us stole about 200 ounces from our claim, so we had to report it. For that purpose I
went into the Cross carrying 554 ounces, which I showed to the warden. The field was then
declared open.'
It was 17 September 1892. There was great excitement and activity at Southern Cross, and the
warden's office ran out of miner's right forms (each cost £1). That night it rained.
The West Australian newspaper reported on the 18th: 'Everybody who can raise a five or ten
pound note or horses, is off to the new find... A party started
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at daybreak this morning on horseback, quickly followed by others on foot humping their
swags. The pluck of the latter is greatly to be admired' - (It was about 120 miles to Flag Flat) -
'There are no stores on the road and no stores at the rush... Others have followed on
horseback, and still more accompanied three teams, which are to carry provisions and tools at a
shilling per pound... A 200 gallon tank, and also a cart for water, have gone... More teams
leave tomorrow, the first team having cut a track for the second. It is reported that 120 camels,
fully laden, leave York on Wednesday.'
York was at that time the rail-head, some 80 miles east of Perth. From there bush tracks
wandered eastwards, from waterhole to waterhole. These were crowded every evening as
grubby, exhausted men queued to refill their waterbags. One man is said to have left Southern
Cross with two buns and a bottle of brandy. Many had not much more: a waterbag, some flour,
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