The Canning Stock Route, the story of Alfred Canning and personal experiences of traversing the route in the 1970’s

The speaker, David Lyne, worked in the mining industry which gave him the opportunity to travel extensively on remote roads and tracks across Australia, at times crossing or following the routes of early (and some later) explorers.

In Western Australia at the start of the 20th century, following the development of cattle stations in the Kimberley and the Kalgoorlie goldrushes, both in the 1890s, there was a need to move cattle from the north of the state to markets in the south. As trucking and refrigeration were yet to be commercialised, Alfred Canning, a surveyor, was commissioned to develop a stock route through the desert from Halls Creek to Wiluna, some 1500km.

This presentation will provide the historical setting and will be illustrated by photos from one of the earliest motor vehicle traverses along the Canning Stock Route in the 1970s.