History

EARLY SETTLEMENT   Aboriginal people inhabited the Alpine High Country for thousands of years, and knew its flora, fauna, geography and seasonal changes intimately. Groups visited the Alps in summer to hold ceremonies and gather the nutritious Bogong moths that shelter there.   The 1939 bushfires in the forests around Melbourne and the boom in building houses after World War II led to a greatly increased demand for timber from the Alps. This resulted in the building of a network of roads that helped open the Alps to visitors and the infrastructure that lead to a sustainable tourism industry.
MOUNT BUFFALO   Mount Buffalo was named because of its alleged resemblance to a buffalo and with the beginning of tourism in the 1880s, an area around the spectacular Gorge was reserved as Mount Buffalo National Park in 1898. The Mount Buffalo Chalet was built in 1910 and the park became a popular holiday destination for succeeding generations and a place for early skiing and ice skating ventures. Mount Buffalo had the first ski tow in Australia.
BRIGHT AND OVENS VALLEY   During the early 1850s, after the gold rushes in the Beechworth area had subsided, a new, rich gold field was discovered in the Buckland Valley around 1853. This brought a rush of adventurous miners to the area for gold. Shanties sprang up along the roadside, although most of the diggers preferred to sleep under the stars. Hold-ups and robberies were a common occurrence.     Bright was called the Ovens Township or Morses Creek Settlement in 1856 and several reports of groups of indigenous people living in the area during the early days of settlement have been documented by early pioneers. With the population and economy growing rapidly, mainly due to the rich gold finds in the area, shops, hotels and banks were soon established. Sports days and races were very much part of the social agenda and were usually attended by people from every corner of the district.       The newly surveyed streets were named after politicians and lawyers of the time. As the gold finds began to dwindle, many miners turned to farming. The rich soil of the Ovens Valley proved adaptable to a diverse range of agriculture, with tobacco, hops, oats, maze, nuts and fruits grown along the valley. Vineyards and wineries are not new to the valley and pine trees were planted on land that was ruined for agriculture by the destruction caused by the gold dredges that had worked and scraped their way along the valley floor during the early 1900s.     Today, evidence of early mining activities can be found on the hillsides and along the riverbeds. Sluicing races, rock stacks and open mines are testimony to the beginnings of the township. The boom in agriculture still continues and the town itself has grown from a small scraggly settlement of timber and canvas dwellings to a busy tourist destination with a large variety of shops, restaurants and cafes.
MOUNT BEAUTY AND KIEWA VALLEY   For many years prior to the arrival of European settlers, Aborigines had appreciated the cool, clear waters of the river, which was given the Aboriginal name Kiewa – “sweet water”. Victoria’s highest mountain, Mount Bogong, situated at the head of the Kiewa Valley, also took its name from an Aboriginal word meaning “big fella”. The first known European visit to the Kiewa Valley was by Hume and Hovell in November 1824. Following the drought of 1838-44, pastoralists sought out the rich pastures in the fertile Kiewa Valley. For the remainder of the 19th century the major activities in the Valley were cattle grazing, dairying, tobacco growing and timber harvesting and milling.     The Bogong High Plains became popular as a summer grazing destination and many cattlemen’s huts are still evident on the High Plains. One of the more famous is Wallace’s Hut near Falls Creek, built in 1889.     The third wave of visitors to the Valley came in 1911 when a private syndicate investigated the possibility of establishing a hydro-electric scheme. The Kiewa Valley became the site of the first major hydro-electric power development in the Victorian Alps and took 26 years from the original concept to open. It was completed in 1961 and at its peak employed more than 4000 people. Construction of the township of Mount Beauty began in 1946 to provide temporary housing for workers.     At the completion of the scheme the housing was retained and Mount Beauty now exists as one of the best examples of a company town in Victoria. The influx of European migrants, with their rich cultural backgrounds, also played a major part in shaping the future character of the Kiewa Valley and Falls Creek.
BOGONG JACK   Alpine High Country history wouldn’t be complete without a bushranger and ‘Bogong Jack’, who outwitted the law between Gippsland and the Murray in the 1850s, was the region’s most infamous. Bogong Jack’s real name was John Payne and he was originally a drover who turned to horse stealing, which proved much more profitable. Eventually captured, he was released due to lack of evidence and sought refuge in his hut near Mount Fainter. Bogong Jack was never seen again and the mystery of whether he turned to gold panning or was murdered for his fortune, remains a mystery to this day.
MYRTLEFORD  From 1837, the township of Myrtleford was a remote cattle run known as the Myrtle Creek Run. Forming the boundary of the runs, Myrtle Creek was given its name by the first Europeans in the area. When gold was discovered in the Buckland Valley, thousands of diggers had to cross Myrtle Creek on their way to the goldfields. A small township developed around the fording place, with the name of Myrtleford consequently adopted. The road through Myrtleford was then called the Buckland Road; today it is known as the Great Alpine Road. Most towns founded during the gold rush era were made up of a diverse mix of nations, and while the English and Irish accounted for a major proportion of the population, people from Scotland, France, Poland, India, the United States, China and Italy contributed to the development of Myrtleford and surrounding areas.
MIGRATION   The Chinese were very adept at market gardening and their vegetables were highly sought after. Indian hawkers trundled their wares around the district and they were always a welcome sight to children who delighted in the mystery of such an array of goods. During the 1920s large numbers of Italian migrants arrived in the district and established themselves in the tobacco industry. Through sheer hard work, they were able to buy their own farms and the tobacco industry began to boom, especially following a second influx of Italians after World War II.
History I Weather I Getting Here I Brochures I Directory I Links

 

SEO & SEO Services - SEO Works