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rs they were and still remain the largest indigenous group in new south wales with tribal lands encompassing the macquarie the lachlan and the murrumbidgee rivers 3 archaeological investigations have identified over 200 wiradjuri campsites around wyangala suggesting the native population in the area was originally high 4 campsites were located on gentle hill slopes on elevated crests and on alluvial colluvial terraces near the lachlan river course 5 the name wyangala pronounced ˈ w aɪ æ ŋ ɡ ɑː l ə 6 originates from a wiradjuri word of unknown meaning 7 however similar sounding words in the wiradjuri language indicate it may mean troublesome or bad wanggun white ngalar 8 the village situated adjacent the lachlan river inherited this name as did the scattered pioneering settlement of wyangala flats portrait of lachlan macquarie 1874 on 27 may 1815 deputy surveyor george william evans was the first european to discover the headwaters of the lachlan river naming it in honour of the nsw governor lachlan macquarie two years later evans and john oxley explored the lachlan they had friendly encounters with the wiradjuri people noting that the language they spoke was distinctly different from that used by the indigenous population on the coast 9 by the time oxley had reached the cumbung swamp he could advance no further due to the presence of impassable marshland eventually being forced to abandon the journey and to turn back oxley believed he had reached a marshy inland sea concluding that the interior of australia was uninhabitable and unfit for settlement 10 despite oxley s bleak assessment of the lachlan valley european settlement of the area began several years after the expedition in 1831 arthur rankin and james sloan both cattlemen from bathurst were the first white settlers to move into the valley 11 encroachment on traditional wiradjuri lands resulted in violent clashes between the indigenous population and the settlers in the midst of this ongoing conflict new land was made available in the wyangala area by the colonial government by the 1840s occupation licenses for land at wyangala flats were being auctioned from the bathurst police office 12 and by 1860 country lots at wyangala were selling from the boorowa police office for 1 an acre 13 at this time and until the construction of the 1935 dam the land at wyangala was primarily used for wool production 14 the conflict with the wiradjuri people lessened by the 1850s as gold mining and free selection brought new settlers to the area the unrelenting tide of europeans overwhelmed the indigenous population resulting in the occupation of traditional lands the destruction of sacred sites and perhaps most damaging of all the introduction of new diseases this eventually led to the displacement and the decline of the wiradjuri people 15 16 17 gold and bushrangers edit mt mcdonald ca 1900 mt mcdonald near wyangala late 1800s the mt mcdonald town plan at the end of the 19th century 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 18 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 19 by the late 1920s as mining declined the town faded away 20 its school closed in december 1924 21 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 11 22 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 23 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 20 24 it was rumored that gardiner convinced the gang members to bury their share of the gold in a mountain cave near wyangala 25 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 25 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 25 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 26 20th century edit see also wyangala dam by the early 1900s unreliable river flows were stifling development in the lachlan valley 27 in 1902 the legislative assembly of new south wales recognised the need for water conservation recurrent droughts and their associated effects on waterways were impacting production and causing significant livestock deaths the assembly considered options to address the problem including a proposal to build a reservoir at wyangala previous surveys of the lachlan valley had identified wyangala as being the only suitable location for a large water storage 28 29 these early discussions eventually led to the construction of the 1935 dam and the beginnings of present day wyangala village 1928 1935 dam construction edit 1935 wyangala dam wall to promote development in the region and to provide a reliable water supply the burrinjuck dam and wyangala dam were constructed 10 27 the official sod turning ceremony to mark the beginning of the 1 3 million project was performed by the nsw premier sir thomas bavin on 17 december 1928 30 the ceremony was not conducted in the usual manner of turning over a sod of soil it was achieved through the detonation of explosives removing tonnes of earth and rock 31 the galvanized iron town of wyangala was established to house the construction workers on land once owned by the green family pioneering settlers 20 by january 1930 wyangala had become a bustling centre with 450 workers and their families in the village and 74 children attending the new primary school 32 in the words of a district resident the township is progressing rapidly the most important buildings are one post and telegraph office two stores two bakers shops one police station one medical practitioner one butcher s shop one public hall and school one church one boarding house for the men employed at the works one g s bank one temporary power house and about 40 private residences when the dam is full the water will cover our house i should think it will be a nice sight when completed a new road has just been built from woodstock to the dam it runs through some wonderful scenery a 32 passenger bus runs from woodstock to the dam tri weekly anonymous 1930 33 this major undertaking was not without incident four men died during the construction of the dam the first being leslie jeffrey falling into the lachlan river and drowning in 1929 34 his death was followed by that of walter watt a laborer 1931 wickliffe brien a dogman 1931 and patrick lewis a carpenter 1933 35 36 37 38 the original pioneering settlement and cemetery were inundated after the dam was completed in 1935 20 39 1961 1971 dam upgrade edit wyangala dam upgrade construction november 1966 wyangala failed to hold the surging floodwaters of the devastating 1952 deluge which was greater than any water mass it had been designed to withstand joan marriott 1988 14 due to concerns about the original dam capacity to withstand floods and a projected increase in demand for water by the agricultural industry in the region wyangala dam was upgraded and enlarged from 1961 to 1971 housing for the workers and their families was provided in temporary demountable dwellings within the village at this time and also during the 1935 dam build utilitarian construction prevailed giving wyangala no dwellings of historical note 14 the ten year a 18 million enlargement project increased the storage capacity of the dam threefold 40 the total surface area of the upgraded reservoir was 5 390 ha 13 300 acres storing 1 220 000 ml 43 000 10 6 cu ft two and a half times the volume of sydney harbour within a catchment of 8 300 km 2 3 200 sq mi 41 42 the opening ceremony for the upgraded dam was scheduled to be performed by sir roden cutler governor of nsw on 8 february 1971 43 however because of heavy rains and road flooding three days prior to the event the opening was delayed until 6 august 1971 over 2 000 guests and officials attended the ceremony in the months and years following the dam opening the population of wyangala decreased significantly houses used by workers on the north west and north east sides of the village were removed leaving only the houses seen in the present day village just below the dam wall 14 post office school and church edit the wyangala dam post office first postmark by march 1929 with dam construction underway see above up to 60 letters arrived in the village every day or two whenever a vehicle made the trip from cowra to wyangala with over 350 workers and their families already in the growing village the lack of a post office or telegraph office was a great inconvenience to the residents 44 45 to alleviate this issue and to provide the residents with a reliable postal service wyangala dam post office was opened on 14 march 1929 the newly opened post office stamped mail with a type 2c postmark which had a full stop after the w of n s w 27 throughout the subsequent years the village post office became an integral part of the wyangala community providing the expected postal and at times banking services as an agent for the commonwealth bank in the post telegraph era a manual telephone exchange was also located within the post office the postmaster mistress would run the telephone exchange in conjunction with running the post office the telephone exchange was automated in the late 1980s and the post office itself was closed in 1998 46 postmasters mistresses from the 1970s until closure included 46 ken and peggy bloomfield 1970s rosa and graham parr 1970s to early 1980s geoff and vicki scott early to mid 1980s jim and yvonne thomas mid to late 1980s peter raudonkis 1990s wyangala dam public school was established not long after the opening of the village post office in 1929 at the time it was the district s second school since establishment the school has been located at three different sites around the village the first was near the present day bowling club and then near the vic roworth conference centre and finally during the 1960s it was moved to its current location on waugoola road notably there was an earlier school at wyangala which was established 22 years prior this school ran for six years and closed in 1913 14 the number of children attending the school has varied widely over the years ranging from 70 in 1930 to 160 in the 1960s to 20 in the early 1980s to under 10 in the 2000s 14 47 48 the first church in wyangala was a small building made from timber and corrugated iron built during the construction of the 1935 dam as with the village school it was originally located near the present day country club opposite the bowling green after the dam was completed the church was purchased by mr bert priddle and transported to a property near grenfell where it was re erected and licensed as an anglican place of worship on 17 november 1935 eventually becoming consecrated by bishop wylde on 19 august 1953 49 50 the current church st vincent s was built at the centre of the village under the direction of aub murray with interdenominational help it is of cinder block construction with an iron roof the church was officially opened on 19 november 1954 the day after the opening as preparations were being made for the first mass a storm knocked down the rear wall of the church rebuilding the wall delayed the first mass until 5 december 1954 51 murder edit the only recorded case of a suspected murder in wyangala village occurred in july 1935 when the coroner mr h d pulling found the death of mr john neilson a worker at the dam was caused by a bullet wound to the head the suspects were named as mrs mavis neilsen the victim s wife and mr claude charnock a family friend both suspects claimed the shooting was accidental and self inflicted however evidence from the post mortem conducted by dr mahon of cowra and that of another witness indicated the wound could not be self inflicted 52 the suspects were charged and brought to trial in september 1935 the crown alleging that they conspired together to kill mr john neilson a short time into the trial before the prosecution could complete their case there was a dramatic turn of events when the jury indicated they did not wish to continue as the evidence was not good enough to convict the accused the prosecutor appealed to the jury to wait to hear more witness and police testimony however after taking no more than a few seconds to consider the request the jury members agreed there was no point continuing consequently the judge acquitted both the accused and allowed them to go free 53 54 55 community edit education church hall and sport edit wyangala dam public school the village has a small one teacher primary school wyangala dam public school located on waugoola rd students come from the nearby rural area the villages of wyangala and darbys falls and the mt mcdonald hamlet the school emphasises environmental education and the creative arts 48 as of july 2022 the school has gone into recess non operational due to low enrolment numbers 56 village church wyangala not far from the school also on waugoola rd there is a catholic church st vincent s which at times serves as a community hall for village activities as a...
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