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- Our Pioneers Gallery
Fifty-Five Years in the North West Mr. John Cashan of Landor Station, on the Upper Gascoyne (By Canberra)
The paths of the early pioneers were many and varied, and far too many of those veterans, through bad luck or bad judgement, did not reap that monetary reward which long and sturdy service in the back blocks surely entitled them to.
Of course, all men cannot be masters or accumulators of money, there must be those who are prepared to serve, but amongst the latter are to be found many men, each of whom has played more than a man's part in converting the wilderness that was, into the farms and stations that are rapidly building- up the wealth of this great State.
Our wide spaces contain many such men, without whose wide experience, noted bush craft and loyalty of service, the great development of our sheep and cattle stations could not be carried out.
Such a man is Mr John Cashan, who, hale and hearty with a fund of anecdote and a merry twinkle in his eye, despite his growing age, and popularly known among his friends as "Johnnie," is making his first visit to Perth in 55 years.
Mr. Cashan was born in King's County, Ireland, 75 years ago, and came to West Australia in 1863 in company with his parents, his father being in the army. Shortly afterwards he left for the bush with Mr Tom Burges, who held a station up near Geraldton where the youth intended being a jockey. But in those days the profession was by no means a lucrative one, and despite the fact that he handled many winners he soon decided on something else.
Page-Boy to Pioneer.
His next position was as page-boy in Government House to Lady Weld. In his three years in this position ho came in contact with a great many people, or in his own words, "There were only 26,000 people in the state then and I knew most of them".
He was next attracted by the wilds whence he started out and where he was to remain for 55 years. During the earlier days his experiences of the bush and its wild inhabitants were many and varied. "The natives were very wild then," he narrates, "They'd think nothing, of molesting you, or taking your sheep and cattle, while they were practised cannibals.
The bush swarmed with them but they quickly perished through sickness mainly, until at the present day only the remnants of the race remain, yet while they lived they were more cunning than ever a white man could be.
One day I was out with some sheep and some blacks came from the front and cut some off while more tried to do the same at the back. They were clever alright.
The veteran was astounded by the progress the city had made and was all entitles when admitting that lie passed along the Terrace the other day and could not find Government House. Of course automobiles and motor bicycles were somewhat of novelties to him, while he hasn't yet seen an aeroplane.
Asked his impressions ot the cinema he candidly admitted with a smile that he had only been into a picture ball once-in Meekatharra and was so shocked by the ill treatment meted out to the heroine that he exclaimed "Oh, the bad fellow!" in full hearing of the other people at the show.
A Fine Character.
John Cashan is highly spoken of by employers and friends alike. Quiet and unassuming, he is well beloved by all who ever came in contact with him. When shown a "Sunday Times" snap of himself seated in charge of his poison cart and horse, he remarked, "Yes, that's my horse," which is typical of the man.
He was recently brought to Perth by Mr. Merton Fitzpatrick, at whose place in Cannington he is enjoying a quiet respite of about a month, prior to returning to the Upper Gascoyne, to Landor station, managed by Mr. Eric Russell, where he has been employed for some years, trapping and poisoning dingoes and shooting eagle hawks.
Despite his age, the hardships he has endured, his many years of incessant hard work and his consistent avoidance of holidays, he looks years younger than he is, can read without glasses, and looks good for another 25 years, a living example of the old axiom that hard work and an open air life will never hurt a man.
John Cashan represents a type of pioneer the value of whose great work on the outskirts of civilisation can never be fully estimated in the building of a nation. [1]
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