At about the time George W. Bush was assuring us the war in Iraq was going swimmingly, and that the Democrats would pose him no problem in the mid-term elections, mayors all over South Australia were facing their own moment of truth. In our part of the mayoral world, what had looked like being a straightforward return of the old guard became a genuine race when a second candidate—let’s call him Brown—entered the field.
Brown, who only ever campaigned as a surname, swamped the district with his publicity. "Brown" appeared on rural posts and fences, while in the township "Brown" flowered everywhere like spring bulbs. "Brown" caught your eye on a fence as you entered the northern end of the town and then, in case you’d missed the point, an old grey horse that habitually dreamed in a town paddock suddenly began wearing a blanket on which was emblazoned the word "Brown". When someone stole the sign on the fence, it was replaced with another, reading, "Who stole our sign?—Brown."
Against this onslaught, Brown’s opponent—let’s call her Mary Jones—seemed unable to make any headway. As the incumbent she no doubt had an advantage, but the scarcity of Jonesian signage suggested a dangerous smugness, a certain complacency.
I have to admit that I was more interested in George W.’s fortunes than the struggle between Mary Jones and Brown, but something about the man we knew only as a surname nagged at my memory and a bit of quick research in back issues of the local paper soon reminded me. It was all to do with John Ainsworth Horrocks.
Horrocks arrived in the colony on his birthday, 22 March 1839. His mentor and adviser was the explorer Edward John Eyre and, though he took Eyre’s advice to become a pastoralist, establishing himself in the mid-north at Penwortham, Horrocks was also a keen explorer. He quickly made a reputation as a well organised, intrepid and commanding figure, mapping the sparsely occupied north of the state. He was an innovator too: among several ground breaking distinctions, he was the first man to use camels as part of his exploration team.
In July 1846, the "King of the North", as he had become known, took a party of explorers that included the artist S.T. Gill on a search for grazing land beyond the limits of the existing settlements. The expedition was only a month or so