WAGON MASTER AT TEN -

In 1895 Joe Bridge decided to make a new start and move his family from Normanton in Queensland to the newly opened Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Joe, his wife and three young children, packed their possessions into a covered wagon and along with some hired help and their cattle set off on a 3000 trek across the top of Australia.

Joe was an experienced bushman but his hired hands took one look at the country west of Cloncurry and fled leaving Joe and his family to drive the wagon and move the cattle on their own.

The Bridge's youngest daughter (Margaret May) known as Mabel, was just 10 years old but she took the reins of the wagon and drove the outfit for the following months as the family made its way slowly westward.

As the family travelled, they came into contact with groups of Aborigines who had never seen a white person before. They were particularly fascinated by the white children and would sometimes follow the wagon for several days and camp nearby at night.

After almost 12 months the Bridge family reached Halls Creek. Joe staked his claim on a patch of land between Halls Creek and Wyndham and called it 'Mabel Downs' after his extraordinary daughter.

In 1909 Mabel married Tom Cole who was one of the pioneers of the Canning Stock Route.

During World War II Mabel was living in Wyndham when it was bombed by the Japanese. The authorities ordered the evacuation of all women and children but Mabel refused to leave her husband. Aged 57 she eluded the authorities by getting on her horse and riding 80 kilometres to Ivanhoe Station.

Tom Cole died in 1943 and Mabel moved to Alice Springs where she died in 1964.

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