Turn back the clock over 100 years, and out here in the Western Australian Goldfields there was one commodity worth more than the elusive gold the old prospectors worked and died for — water!

It was 1892 when gold was first discovered at Cue by prospecting partners Mick Fitzgerald and Tom Cue. Tom then registered the claim and the town of Cue, named after him, went on to become lovingly known as ‘Queen of the Murchison’.

They were rough, tough days in the Murchison Goldfields, and with a lack of water in the area (including for washing), it was said you could smell Cue well before you reached the town.

Milly Well, near Milly Soak, provided the all important water

ACCESSING WATER

In those early days, the nearest fresh water to Cue was 10 miles (16km) away at Milly Soak, and a regular stream of prospectors could be seen trudging to and from the soak for vital water supplies. Some would come with wheel barrows carrying their water drums; others would ride their old push bikes along the well-used track through the bush with their containers strapped onto their backs or balanced on their bikes.

For those prospectors who could afford it, they paid a water carter the exorbitant price (for those times) of 2 shillings a gallon! It doesn’t sound much today (20c for 4½ litres), but in those days it was over a week’s wages just for a few litres of water. At that price it was not surprising that very little of the water was actually used for washing — making for a town with plenty of very smelly bodies indeed!

Understandably living in such conditions with poor basic hygiene and sanitation did not take long for ‘the fever’ (these days known as typhoid) to become quite a serious problem. Many died during this disastrous outbreak. During those desperate times, a tent hospital was set up at Milly Soak where the sick, with access to fresh water, could be treated in comparative hygienic conditions.

Additionally, Milly Soak also became a popular recreation area for the locals to take a break from the hot, dusty rigors of prospecting. People would regularly walk, cycle or take a horse and buggy ride to the soak for a picnic or to relax. On special occasions they would dress up in their finest attire, including suits for the men who had them and the ladies in their long dresses and fancy hats — a scene hard to imagine today in this lonely part of the WA outback.

Cattle stand watch beside the access road to Milly Soak

MILLY SOAK TODAY

These days there is little evidence to be seen of ‘the goings on’ over 100 years ago out here at Milly Soak. Access to the site is, however, a lot easier than it used to be. Visitors can drive north from Cue some 16km where a signpost on the Great Northern Highway points west to Milly Soak another 6km away.

The soak is contained within the boundaries of Nallan Cattle Station where visitors are asked to close the property gate located just a few metres off the highway (to stop cattle wandering onto the main road), to take all rubbish with them and to respect their requests of ‘no fires, no shooting, no camping’!

Yes, this is a day-use site only, but if you are travelling through the area, there is a lovely free camping spot just a few kilometres away on the Nallan Lake or there is accommodation and camping available at the nearby Nallan Station Homestead.

The single lane, earth formed access track off the highway to Milly Soak is suitable to most vehicles (including high clearance caravans  driven with care — ‘big rigs’ not recommended) — with room at the end at the soak to park and turn around. The track, now part of the Murchison Miner’s Tourist Pathway, should not be used by any vehicles until it has dried out after rain.

The drive in along the quite good condition track, traverses a mixture of sparse open country, as well as a few heavily timbered sections and a grove of beautiful white gums at trails end. Around 1.6km off the highway the track passes a windmill and cattle trough where you may sight some of the station’s healthy cattle herd. Station tracks lead off the main trail, but the soak is well signposted and is reached at the end of the track.

These days all that can be seen of Milly Soak is a well with a fence around it and some information signs telling of its history and onetime importance to the people in the area.

Lovely gums dot the area

Following a series of arrows on the ground made from rocks, a walking trail leads approximately 200m from the soak to a small cemetery where there are five lonely graves. Three of the deceased were prospectors who did not survive ‘the fever’ back in 1893 and 1894, whilst the other two are more recent graves of locals who are now at rest in an area very dear to them.

The original wooden headstones for the old prospectors — George Hamersley, George Hardy and Mr Hammond — were eaten away by termites long ago and plaques have subsequently been erected. This is indeed a lonely resting place, and if it hadn’t been for the access now allowed into Milly Soak, these early graves would have been long forgotten. Quite a sobering thought.

With the soak providing moisture to the surrounding areas, the tranquil scene here, with an array of wildflowers and green grass in spring and with its lovely grove of tall white gums and plenty of birdlife all year round, is quite delightful — just the spot for a picnic! Some things change over the years and some things don’t.

Next time you are travelling through the WA Murchison, call into Milly Soak for a picnic and imagine the scene out here and the vital role that this soak played in life in the area well over 100 years ago.

Historic buildings on the main street of Cue

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• Milly Soak — turn off Great Northern Highway approximately 16km north of Cue. A 6km single lane track leads west to the soak. No camping is allowed — this is a day visit site only.

• Accommodation and camping facilities are available on Nallan Station — Ph: 08 9963 1054 or E: nallan.stn@bigpond.com. 

• The nearest town is Cue, where supplies, fuel, water and a general store, post office, police station, tourist centre, nursing post, hotel accommodation and caravan park are available.

• In case of emergency in the area, use UHF channel 15.

• Cue Township has quite a few old historic buildings. Mud maps and historic trail information is available from the tourist centre.

• The book Lonely Graves of WA by Y. & K. Coate, Hesperian Press, provides some details on the three prospector graves found at Milly Soak.

• For further information, contact the Cue Tourist Centre which is located in the Cue Community Resource Centre building, 33 Robinson Street, Cue. Ph: 08 9963 1198 or E: cue@crc.net.au. 

The graves are so unobtrusive they are easy to miss

Category: Unknown
Written: Mon 01 Feb 2021
Printed: February, 2021
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