page_title: Wyangala
section_title: Gold and bushrangers
hierarchical_section_title: Wyangala / History / Gold and bushrangers
caption_attribution_description: English: Mt McDonald Ca 1900
context_page_description: Wyangala is a small village in the Lachlan Valley, near the junction of the Abercrombie and Lachlan Rivers, just below the Wyangala Dam wall. It is in the South West Slopes of New South Wales, Australia, and about 320 km west of the state capital, Sydney.
  The village was named after an indigenous word of unknown meaning, thought to be of Wiradjuri origin. The Wiradjuri were the original inhabitants of the Lachlan Valley, with campsites along river flats, on open land and by rivers. Their traditional way of life was altered, and perhaps lost, following the exploration of the valley by British explorers, John Oxley and George William Evans in 1815. White settlement followed in the 1830s, leading to violent clashes between the Wiradjuri and the settlers.
  The present-day village was established in 1928, during the construction of Wyangala Dam. However, in the same area, there was a scattered pioneering settlement known as Wyangala Flats, which was established in the 1840s. This settlement was submerged under water following the completion of Wyangala Dam in 1935.
  Although Wyangala grew substantially during periods of dam construction, the population dwindled in the subsequent years.
context_section_description: Gold mining was prevalent in the nearby Mount McDonald area in the late 1800s and early 1900s after two gold rich quartz reefs were discovered in 1880. The reefs were found by Donald McDonald and his party as they were prospecting the mountain ranges around Wyangala. McDonald happened upon the gold by chance, after seeing sunlight reflect off something beneath a tree near his camp. As news of his discovery spread, miners were drawn to the area and slowly the township of Mount McDonald 'grew in the midst of the forest'. In its prime, the town had
  some 600 persons living there as well as many people in the surrounding district. A school, at least one (Catholic) Church, banks, a general store... a resident doctor and the inevitable pubs.
  — Frank Clune (1935)
  By the late 1920s, as mining declined, the town faded away. A hamlet of no more than 4 or 5 houses exists where the Mt McDonald township once stood.
  Although most of the gold mining activity was limited to Mount McDonald, alluvial gold and precious gems were also found along the banks of the Lachlan River at Wyangala in the early 1900s.  However, the find was not significant enough to see commercial interest.
  The discovery of gold in other parts of New South Wales in the years prior to that found at Mount McDonald, led to increased bushranger activity. During the 1860s and 1870s the Lachlan Valley had serious problems with bushrangers, notably gangs led by Frank Gardiner, John Gilbert and Ben Hall, amongst others. Frank Gardiner was one of the most successful bushrangers of the time. His final robbery, which also was to be his greatest haul, occurred in 1862 at Eugowra Rocks.  In this instance, Gardiner along with Ben Hall, John Gilbert and others, robbed a 'gold escort' carrying in the range of £14,000–£22,000 in gold and cash. It was rumored that Gardiner convinced the gang members to bury their share of the gold in a mountain cave near Wyangala.
   Somewhere on a rock-strewn mountain near the Fish River that empties into the Wyangala Dam, a fortune in stolen gold lies hidden.
  — G.R. (1942)
  Gardiner was to give the gang members a signal when it was safe to recover the gold. This was never to happen, as Gardiner was eventually exiled to the United States after being sent to prison. Five years after the heist, an Irishman arrived in New South Wales with a rough map marking the location of the gold, purportedly drawn by Gardiner.  Even with this map and years of searching, no trace of the gold was ever found. By the late 1800s improved police efficiency was bringing to a close the era of the bushranger, many of whom had been gaoled, exiled, shot or hanged. This decline in criminal activity coincided with a general push to populate the region, the introduction of telegraph communications, and the development of transport infrastructure.
caption: Mt McDonald, ca. 1900
exif: {}