The following is a collection of stories told by some of members of 'The Original Carrum Cowboys'. You’re invited to read them, they may give you some insight into their lives and time.

'Kicked in the head'.

When Jim Jones was about 15 years old he bought a 13-14 hand high gelding from Joes Shaw for about 12 pounds - its name was Buttons . Jim had a part time job out the back of Carrum milking Harold Stephen's cows, there was plenty of grass at the Stephen's farm so he often left Buttons in the paddocks to graze.

Buttons was an extremely difficult horse to catch, as soon as he saw anyone coming he would be off in the opposite direction. One day Jim and his dog went out to the farm to bring Buttons back to a paddock closer to Jim's place. After spending some time chasing him around the paddocks they finally had him cornered. They were closing in when all of a sudden Buttons lashed out and kicked Jim right in the middle of his forehead. Jim reckons the horse was kicking at the dog but it was him that ended up bearing the brunt of it.

He said he staggered down the road with blood pouring from his head, horrified onlookers quickly called an ambulance. Jm said It didn't seem to take long before it arrived, he said ambulance officers took one look at him and then quickly placed him on a stretcher. The ambulance then made its way around to Jim's house, collecting his mother, and then, rushing Jim to the Alfred Hospital. Jim was to spend the next three weeks laying in bed with a fractured skull. As a reminder of the event he still has a horseshoe shaped scar on his forehead. ^[1]

Author

Carole Ross

1. Ross C. Interview Jim Jones. 2009

Carrum and circuses

It was always an exciting time when the circus came to town. In the 1950's most circuses were filled with many animals - there could be elephants, monkeys, horses, lions and once one of the circus's even had hyennas. The Big Tops were set up at different places around Carrum, McDougall’s paddocks and Canberra Street were popular spots. Ken Dahlstrom said they even used the empty paddocks next door to his house and once tethered the elephants to his house stumps. He said he can remember one of the elephants wrapping its trunk around his front tap and ripping it right out of the ground. He went on to say that he barely escaped with his life when he came face to face with a massive 4.5 tonne circus elephant. It was dusk and there were about 8 tethered in the next door paddocks.

Ken said he picked some grass and decided to see what would happen if he waved it front of one of the elephants. He said the elephant probably thought it was being taunted because before he knew it the elephant's trunk had come snaking out and had grabbed him by the arm. Ken said it felt like a vice and he had absolutely no chance of escape. He said he thought his arm was being torn out of its socket he said he felt himself being lifted further and further up until he was suspended about 10 foot off of the ground.

A close up encounter with an elephant could have had a terrible outcome for Ken (each year elephants kill around 500 people.) ^[1] Ken firmly believed the elephant was preparing to dash him to the ground and trample on him. He said he thought he was going to be killed when out of the fading light a figure appeared - it was a circus worker who had been napping in one of the trucks and had been woken by Ken's yells.

The circus worker wasn’t just any old circus worker Ken said his massive arms were heavily scarred. Ken swears to this day that his rescuer was no one less than the circus lion tamer! The many scars on his arms bearing proof of his occupation. The lion tamer saved the day, he raced over to the elephant bellowing and then commenced prodding it with a great stick which had a large hook on the end. Fortunately, the elephant responded to the lion tamer's commands and slowly lowered Ken to the ground and released him. Ken reckoned he was very lucky and said he made a hasty retreat back into the safety of his house. He maintains to this day he has a healthy respect for elephants and has never tried the trick with the grass on them again. ^[2]

Brahma bull and buck riding was a favourite circus act with the Carrum Cowboys. There were always plenty of volunteers from among them. Jim Jones remembers anyone volunteering to ride would be strapped to a nervous horse that was restrained in a holding pen, its nostrils flared, ears flat, eyes wide and showing their whites and... then the gate would be opened!

Out in the ring the horse would become a thrashing and bucking machine in its desperate attempt to dislodge the rider from its back. Anyone game enough to get on a bronco’s back or a Brahma bull would be thrown around like a rag doll. They would hang on for their grim lives. Jim said it was a major feat to stay on them for any longer than a few seconds. He said he and Robert Woodward were able to stay on the back of the bucking broncos longer than any of the other riders and became know as Carrum’s Champion Circus Buck Riders! ^[3]

Author

Carole Ross

ACKNOWLDGEMENTS

1. National Geographic News. 2005.http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/06/0603_050603_elephants.html. Retrieved June 2010

2. Ross C. Interview Ken Dahlstrom, 2009.

3. Ross C. Interview Jim Jones, 2009.

Photo courtesy of

Chelsea Historical Society.

The Black Stallion

The black stallion stood about 15 hands high. He was a fine looking horse, pitch black with an unidentified brand on him. The story went that he had escaped from the stockyards at Dandenong Market and made his way across country to the back of Carrum and was hiding out down near the river.

The local council had tried to catch him but he was shrewd, if he saw anyone coming he would bolt off in the opposite direction. On one occasion council workers managed to drop ropes over his head, but when they closed in he attacked lunging and trying to bite them. He then reared up and galloped away with the ropes hanging from him. He plunged into the river and swam to the other side climbing its bank. It's said, he looked over his shoulder at his would be captors before disappearing into the bush!

It was a typical hot summer’s day when John MaclHinney and Ken Dahlstrom hatched a scheme to try and nab the stallion. A massive pine tree was growing near the river bank, in those days radiata pine trees were dotted all over Carrum, they had been planted there many years ago by early settlers.

The plan, was to place a bucket of chaff at the base of the tree, climb it and lay in wait. Ken and MaclHinney rode out to the tree and hid their horses in some nearby scrub. Ken said as they lay in wait in the tree they could see the stallion grazing in the distance. Hours passed before he slowly headed in their direction stopping all along the way to eat grass. Finally, the stallion went over to the bucket of chaff, as soon as he lowered his head to eat the lasso was dropped ! The stallion reared back in fright, the rope fell and off he bolted in an easterly direction.

MaclHinney quickly ran and jumped on his horse and galloped after him. Ken Dahlstrom said last time he saw the stallion MclHinney was chasing after it, they were both jumping fences heading out towards the Bangholme Spillways!

On his return MaclHinney told Ken he kept on the stallion’s tail nearly all the way to Dandenong but couldn’t close the gap to lasso him. The stallion was just too wily and fast... it's not know what happened to him but right up until this very day the story about the stallion is still talked about.![1]

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

1. Ross C. Interview Ken Dahlstrom. Jim Jones. 2009

Ian Hunter's Memories

Ian wrote, 'one day in the early 1960's six of us - John Dahlstrom, John Grummet and myself on horseback. Barry Haslem, Stephen Hunter and Len Murphy were riding in a jinker, we had all decided to go down to Crystal Pool and ride around there for a bit of fun.

We were making our way along Railway Parade, in those days it was just a winding sandy track with dense tea trees on each side. As we were travelling along it Frankston Police pulled up beside us in their wagon and started questioning us. They asked us where we were going, what our names and ages were and what our intentions were. Once they were satisfied with our answers they proceeded to examine our jinker to determine if it was roadworthy. Particular notice was taken of modifications made to the horse’s harness and the fencing wire we had used to hold parts of it together. They lectured us saying it may have been okay 20 years ago using something like that but it certainly wasn’t allowed these days, we were told to fix it.

When the 'roadworthy' check was over they told us to get on our way. Then one of the Constables looked straight at me and said', “Hunter if we get any reports of any of you ‘Carrum Cowboys’ causing any trouble in the area we’ll come straight to you because you're the oldest and we’ll hold you responsible”.

'We waited for a few minutes and I thought how unfair it was that they singled me out. What if someone found hoof prints on their nature strip and reported it, or for that matter any other horse riding misdemeanors around the area. It seemed like I was going to be held responsible, I then thought to myself, "what a load of "shite"! With that in my mind we all headed off down the dirt road heading to the Crystal Pool. We ended up having a great time and I didn’t hear anything else from the Frankston Police which certainly put to rest any concerns I had'. ^[1]

Acknowledgements

1. Ross C Interview Ian Hunter. 2009

Photo Courtesy of

Barry Priestley

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'The Original Carrum Cowboy's' Melbourne Cup'.

There are people living in Carrum who have memories of the 'The Original Carrum Cowboy’s' holding their own Melbourne Cup along side the Patterson River.

John Hoyne remembers those races. The story told was there could be up to ten people out riding - perhaps they could be sometimes as far away as Frankston. Without doubt there would always be the comment that someone reckoned he had the fastest horse and it could easily beat all the others. [1] 'The Original Carrum Cowboys' all loved their horses - they admired the stamina, beauty and above all the speed. Each and every one of them thought their horse was the fastest and could beat all the others.

Once the challenge was out everyone would want to prove that their horse would win. Eddie Laing has memories of racing, he said in his day they would race on the flat area behind Priestley's farm. ^[2] Some ten or fifteen years later another crop of teenagers were still racing their horse out there in the quest to discover whose horse was the best. Jim Jones also remembers he and his friends racing their horses out near Priestley's farm. He said that they must have held at least a dozen ‘Melbourne Cups’ there. 3]

Priestley's farm has disappeared, it's now a part of Patterson Lakes. Carrum Cowboys 'Melbourne Cup' is in the past never to be recaptured again.

Author

Carole Ross

1. Ross C. Interview John Hoyne.

2. Ross C. Interview Eddie Laing.

3. Ross C. Interview Jim Jones.

Bill Illman's memories of Carrum.

Bill wrote - 'most of Carrum was bush land when I was a kid. In the 1950's there were white flowering tea trees and bracken ferns everywhere. They were even growing in Tennyson Street next to my Mum and Dad's house. He continued - most of the streets in Carrum were unmade, they were just dirt and pot holes. Other boyhood memories include the times when the 1952 floods came to Carrum. Bill remembers looking from the McLeod Road Bridge toward Dandenong, where the water was as far as the eye could see. He wrote, the flooded Kananook Creek, Patterson River and swamps caused Carrum to be turned into an island. [1

In the 1950's there used to be a creek at the back of Emma, Smith and Tennyson streets which flowed out into the Patterson River. Bill stated the creek was part of the Kananook Creek system with even the locals calling it Kananook. He described it as beautiful in those days, clean, wild and full of reeds, saying it had fish, large eels, native water rats and magnificent bird life. Bill said, 'some days I would just sit there for hours watching the eels sliding through the water and reeds.' [1}

Author

Carole Ross

1. Ross C. Interview Bill Illman. 2009

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Photo courtesy of

Barry Priestley (1)

Picture Collection, State Library Victoria (2)