Once a 12 months the Howqua Valley at Sheepyard Flat comes alive to the sound of horses and men. For a short moment in the early morning mist it is simple to imagine that the years have been turned back and that you are standing in a tent town from the days of the goldfields. Tents abound on the flats, but they are not the previous canvas kind of earlier instances, but made of nylon and artificial. The inhabitants usually are not of their working clothes, but dressed for the weekends festivities. The horses are there to participate in the nice Mountain Race, held every year in November, a trial for horse and rider alike.
Howqua Hills Historic Area. Click on picture to enlarge On this explicit weekend more guests camp along the Howqua River than ever lived within the tiny township of Howqua Hills which once stood on the flats. The township was situated on the northern side of the river, between Stockyard and Blackbird Creeks and was surveyed in 1888. It was divided into sixty three home blocks and some larger rural blocks. Howqua Hills had six named streets and was bounded by Buller, Fern and Hill Streets.
Despite the grandiose plans, like many other gold towns, few of the blocks were ever sold to anybody apart from these already residing on them. At its peak the population of Howqua Hills would have been struggling to achieve 200 persons. The early '80s saw the largest congregation of individuals there with over forty working miners.
By 1889 the mining population was fluctuating between ten and thirty however the town had ceased to grow and was in reality slipping into decline.
Although the township of Howqua Hills was brief lived, occupation of the valley will be traced again at the least 4 thousand years. The Taungurong tribe constantly moved by way of the world to the west of Mt. Buller and used the Howqua Valley as a significant route for trade or war between the tribes.
Today the valley is important as an archeological site, for it was here that the aborigines gathered stone from greenstone quarries for tools and implements. The stone here is exceptionally onerous and ideally suited for axes. Other than these sites there is little to point that aborigines as soon as lived and hunted in the valley.
These early occupants worked with the land and left only minimal adjustments on its floor, in contrast the white invaders of the mid nineteenth century established themselves permanently and forever modified the panorama. No evidence remains to indicate if there have been ever any confrontations or meetings between the 2 groups on the Howqua.
The first whitemen to move completely into the district were the Hunter Brothers and James Watson On account of the growth in the wool trade, they formed a company in 1838 with a number of rich backers, desiring to speculate in stock and land Their base was on the Devil's (Delatite) River they usually rapidly accumulated one other seven runs comprising almost 300,000 acres. Despite the vast holdings the depression of 1842 destroyed their enterprise. Stock and wool costs fell dramatically, loans couldn't be repaid and lots of squatters went bankrupt necessitating the sale of their lands.
Top Watson and Hunter's predominant holding was damaged up into six stations and bought off after an insolvency case that finally ended in 1847 Other properties had already been sold off prior to this time. The Howqua area or run was purchased by John Martin.
The Howqua river and run acquired its title from one of many Hunter Bothers - John 'Howqua' Hunter, who was an early firm representative in Australia. Howqua was a well-liked model of Chinese tea and a typical name in the coastal Guangdong Province of China. It is possible that John Hunter visited China in search of trade and so picked up the nickname.
'Houqua' was additionally the name of a American ship which began an era of tea races to China.
After the initial purchase, the Howqua run was subdivided into Goulburn Downs and Howqua Hills and put up for lease. Lickhole Creek was the proposed boundary between the 2 runs.
A Mr Daniels leased Howqua Hills and Alfred Chenery Goulburn Downs.
Old Machinery on the Howqua. Click on image to enlarge
When the previous lease expired Hyman Rowe took it over and bought one hundred acres of freehold referred to as Seaforth Station. He built a thirteen roomed homestead which grew to become generally known as Howqua Hills Station. In 1882 a surveyor commented that although there was good soil on the river flats and creeks there was'... nothing to art appeal to a large choosing agricultural population.' He went on to say that there was '...truthful grazing country of limited extent around the station, and a larger area of inferior quality outdoors of that, but the mountains are steep rocky lofty and sterile, able to supporting but a small amount of inventory...' Few others have been tempted to farm the area till the lure of gold provided a market and various revenue.
It is shocking that though gold was found in Victoria in 1851 and the areas of close by Stations had been identified to be auriferous nobody had bothered to consider the Howqua as a gold bearing stream. Certainly major finds to the south at Gaffneys Creek and on the left hand branch of the Goulburn River (Morningstar Creek), at what was to be later Wood's Point, were spectacular and would have diverted consideration from different areas. With
burke and wills double swag in 1860, many of the ardent diggers had been headed for the higher reaches of the Goulburn the place there was supposedly gold in abundance.