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The
remains of Day Dawn near
Cue |
Cue
Fascinating near ghost town
which was once a gracious and
wealthy gold mining town.
Known as the 'Queen of the
Murchison', Cue is located 650
km north east of Perth. At the
turn of the century Cue was the
centre of the Murchison
Goldfields boasting a population
of around 10 000, now all that
is left is a small settlement
(current population is around
300) with some of the most
grandiose buildings to be seen
anywhere in rural Western
Australia.
There is a great sense of
permanence about Cue. It is
obvious that the miners who
arrived in the town in the early
1890s, and made their fortunes
on the rich gold reefs which
surrounded the town, were
determined to show the world
that their new town was a place
of substance and importance.
They were letting the world know
that they were wealthy men and
they deserved to live in a
prosperous kind of environment.
No one knows who discovered
gold at Cue but it is likely
that the first find was made by
Michael John Fitzgerald who,
after an Aborigine named
Governor had found a 10 oz
nugget nearby, decided to
prospect in the area. It is
claimed that Governor presented
the nugget to Fitzgerald
remarking 'This fellow slug no
good, plenty bit fellow slug
over there'. It took Fitzgerald
and his friend Edward Heffernan
one week to find 260 ozs of gold
near what is now the main street
of Cue. They then told Tom Cue
who travelled to Nannine to
register their claim. Ironically
it was Cue who gave his name to
the town.
The town grew rapidly. Within
days 400 miners had poured into
the area and within a year the
town of Cue was officially
proclaimed.
At one time the town, and its
companion town of Day Dawn,
boasted three newspapers - The
Murchison Miner, The Murchison
Times and The Murchison
Advocate.
The miners were hopelessly
romantic about their prospects
and, although Cue sits in the
middle of a desert area, they
gave their mines names like
Light of Asia, Golden Stream,
Lady Mary, Golden Crows Nest,
and Cue Victory. The mines
continued to operate from 1892
until 1933 when the price of
gold finally forced the Light of
Asia to close.
In recent years the price of
gold has allowed the Golden
Crown Mine at Day Dawn to open
but its future is dependent on
the continuing high price of
gold. Apart from this major
operation (which employs up to
70 people) there are still
dozens of smaller mines in the
area. The road from Mount Magnet
to Cue is littered with small
gold mines. A rough hand painted
sign at the side of the road and
a pile of tailings in the
distance indicates that another
small mining operation is trying
its luck with the area's
seemingly inexhaustible supplies
of reef gold.
Things to see:
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Historic Buildings
Cue is a delight for the
visitor. Its buildings - most
notably The Gentleman's Club,
The Old Gaol, the Government
Buildings and the Masonic Lodge
- make a walk around the town a
fascinating journey into the
past. There are also interesting
trips around the town to unique
Aboriginal art sites, the
remnants of Day Dawn, and to the
Red Ochre Mine at Wilgie Mia.
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The
Masonic Hall, Cue
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Masonic Hall
Of all the interesting buildings
in Cue the most unusual is the
Masonic Hall in Dowley Street
(one block west of the main
street). Built after a design by
E. Owen Hughes the plaque
outside details the history:
'Built in 1899 of timber and
galvanised iron with a pressed
tin interior this unusual
building is said to be the
largest corrugated iron
structure in the southern
hemisphere. The lodge itself was
consecrated on 21 April 1897 and
brethren often travelled from as
far away as Big Bell to attend
the monthly meetings. The lodge
was closed in 1979.'
Band Rotunda
Another landmark in town is the
rotunda in the main street. The
plaque on the rotunda records
that: 'This rare octagonal
bandstand was built in 1904 and
dedicated to the pioneers of the
Murchison region. It was a
popular meeting place in the
early years of settlement and
the town's band played here on
Saturday nights. The drinking
fountain was added in 1934.'
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The Cue
Gentleman's Club
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The Murchison Chambers
Further up the main street (at
the northern end of the town)
are the Shire Offices which were
originally a gentleman's club
called The Murchison Chambers.
This stone building was financed
by the London and Western
Australian Investment Company
and had 18 offices and two
shops. In January 1901 the upper
floor became home to the
Murchison Club used by Cue's
leading business, mining,
pastoral and professional men.
It later became known as the
Gentleman's Club.
Government Buildings
And over the road are the
Government Buildings. Built in
1896 to house the Warden's
Court, Post Office and Police
Station they were constructed
from locally quarried limestone
slabs. Inevitably as the town
continued to grow additions were
made in 1897 and 1898.
The clock on the Post Office
was given to the town by Sir
John Forrest. A source of
aggravation for Post Office
employees it has to be wound
every 24 hours - a task which
involves climbing a ladder and
pulling the counterweight back
into the tower.
Further up the main street in
the Caravan Park is the Old Gaol
which was built to a design
provided by the WA Architectural
Department - a kind of project
gaol for every purpose.
Looking at the town now with
its shuttered buildings, its
sleepiness, and a few Aborigines
mooching around the elegant
rotunda, it is hard to imagine
that in 1901 May Vivienne, in
her Travels in Western
Australia, wrote of the town:
'At last I saw the lights of
Cue. Electric lights in the
streets, horses and carts, the
shrill whistle of the railway
engine, boys calling out the
evening papers...all told me
that I had emerged from the
'back blocks' and was once more
nearing the metropolis.'
Ruins of Cue Hospital
To the south west of the town
(follow the signs on the road
into town) are the ruins of the
old hospital. Cue's first
hospital was a canvas and bough
shed set up north of the town in
July 1892 after an outbreak of
typhoid fever which some think
emanated from a well where the
rotunda now stands. In 1895 a
new hospital was built on the
site of the ruins. It was built
of local stone with spacious
wards and wide shady verandahs.
It closed in 1942 and allowed to
slowly rot away so that now only
ruins are left.
Day Dawn
5 km to the south of the town is
the old settlement of Day Dawn.
It is now nothing more than a
few ruins suggesting the huge
settlement which existed at the
turn of the century. There is a
photograph upstairs in the Shire
council offices of Day Dawn in
1906 which shows it as a
thriving settlement. It is an
insight into the way mining
towns thrive and disappear.
Today all that is left is the
Great Fingal Mine Office, a
magnificent building which the
Murchison Advocate described as
'an object lesson for the
Murchison in mason work. The
rooms are lofty, windows
numerous, and the whole
structure is surrounded by a
wide and massive verandah.'
Aboriginal Art
Of the huge variety of
Aboriginal art available in
Western Australia one of the
most unusual examples must be
that of the white, square–rigged
sailing ship with two masts and
square portholes at Walganna
Rock. Located 48 km north of Cue
this mysterious depiction of a
white ship is over 300 km from
the sea. No accurate date can be
placed on the painting although
it was almost certainly executed
before 1900. Unfortunately the
bushes which protected the rock
for hundreds of years have been
removed and the paintings are
starting to fade from exposure
to both sun and corrosive
forces.
69 km north of Cue are the
red ochre deposits of Widgie
Mia. According to Aboriginal
legend in the dreamtime the
spirit being Mondong speared a
giant kangaroo which leapt over
the Weld Range and landed at
Widgie Mia. In its death throes
the giant kangaroo dug a cave
into which its blood spilt. The
blood became the red ochre and
the bile from the animal's liver
became the yellow and green
ochre which can also be found in
the cave. The red ochre is like
cocoa Take old clothes and a
torch when you visit the site.
It is estimated that the site
has been mined for at least the
last 1000 years by Aborigines
who have removed over 50 000
tonnes of ochre which has been
bartered all over Western
Australia. Not surprisingly
Widgie Mia is regarded as one of
the most important Aboriginal
sites in Western Australia.
Books on Cue
Two handy publications on the
area are Phil Heydon's typed and
photocopied Cue - Queen of the
Murchison which provides very
detailed travel instructions on
how to get to Hanging Rock,
Walga Rock, Nallan Lake, Kintore
Blow and the Red Ochre Mine at
Wilgie Mia (it is a must for
anyone venturing off the main
roads) and the Cue Heritage
Trail. Both are available at the
Shire Council Offices in Austin
Street.
