The history of Muttaburra is really the history of Harry Redford. His remarkable story - one of audacity, cunning, chicanery and consummate bushmanship, all employed in the name of criminal self-interest - formed the basis of Rolf Boldrewood's novel Robbery Under Arms (considered the first significant Australian novel). The admiration of the outback people for his actions is a fascinating reflection of the Australian character.
Redford was born in the Hawkesbury River district of New South Wales in 1842. It is likely that his father was the convict, Thomas Redford, who had arrived in Australia in 1826. By the time he was a teenager Redford was working as a drover and by 1870 he was in central western Queensland working on the vast Bowen Downs station which, at the time, covered 1.75 million acres. The area upon which modern-day Muttaburra stands was at one end of this vast holding.
At the time Bowen Downs was running a herd of about 70 000 cattle and Redford felt that the station owners wouldn't even know if they were a thousand short on muster. Redford knew that if he stole the cattle (all of which were branded) he couldn't sell them in Queensland or New South Wales. So he devised a plan to drove the cattle down Cooper Creek into South Australia. To understand how daring this plan was it is worth remembering that Burke and Wills had died attempting to make a similar journey only nine years earlier.
Redford successfully drove the cattle 1300 km to the Blanche Water station in northern South Australia where he sold them for �5000. However the loss was noted and in February 1871 Redford was arrested and taken to Roma to be tried. The charge was 'that Redford, in March 1870, at Bowen Downs station, feloniously did steal 100 bullocks, 100 cows, 100 heifers, 100 steers, one white bull, the property of Morehead and Young.'
From the outset the trial had the elements of an entertainment rather than a serious investigation. Locals, captivated by Redford's consummate bushcraft and daring, packed the courtroom. The stolen white bull stood in a yard outside the courthouse. 41 of the 48 people called as possible jurors were dismissed as they were considered prejudiced. The white bull took part in a line-up with 20 other bulls and was immediately identified by its owner.
The evidence against Redford was overwhelming. The defence offered no witnesses and complained that Redford had been gaoled without trial.
The jury retired for an hour and then delivered their verdict. The court transcript reads as follows:
Judge: What is your verdict?
Foreman of the Jury: We find the prisoner 'Not Guilty'.
Judge: What?
Foreman of the Jury: Not guilty.
Judge: I thank God, gentlemen, that the verdict is yours, not mine!
On 5 April 1873 the governor of Queensland ordered that the criminal jurisdiction of the District Court at Roma be withdrawn for two years.
After his acquittal Harry Redford headed into northern Australia. He worked as a drover on the Atherton Tableland and around the Gulf country. In 1883 he moved the first herd of cattle from Queensland to the Brunette Downs station where he was appointed manager. For many years he oversaw the McArthur River station on the Gulf of Carpentaria and was known around Burketown as the model for Boldrewood's Captain Starlight, although he refused to acknowledge the obvious similarities.
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