Banjo was the Man from Snowy River, who supplied Banjo with an uplifting adventure and fodder for his now-famous poem. Banjo said that it was a work of fiction based on other mountain cattlemen he encountered, but that the primary plot was based on Jack Riley. Banjo also stated that he had taken some poetic license in describing Riley as a man from Wyoming when he knew him to be from Victoria. Riley was a cowboy who lived near Calgary before he moved to the Australian goldfields in 1872. He struck it rich soon after arriving there and used his money to start buying up land in Victoria's alpine region. He built hermitages and campsites on top of many of the mountains and named them after songs that were playing in his head. He died in 1896 at the young age of 40. Even though he never set foot in Wyoming, people there still think he is one of their own because they believe the story told by Banjo Patterson about how he came to know him. Patterson met Riley when he traveled to Calgary to sell his horse. They became good friends and when Riley went looking for a new place to live, he asked Patterson if he could use his house as a base camp while he searched for available land. This is where Banjo comes in. He writes about their friend in a poem called "The Man from Snowy River" which makes Riley out to be more than just another cowpoke.