Details
Saturday 12 - Tuesday 15 June 2010
Location: Moonta to Adelaide
Photos
Moonta 150 Years of Copper Celebrations for 2010
Re-enactment of Horn's Ride
The Story
William Horn was working on pastoralist Walter Watson Hughes' property at Wallaroo when a local shepherd, Patrick Ryan, found copper ore. Hughes learned from Ryan the exact location, then contacted Horn, who had started on a trip, asking him to return.
A rival syndicate had left for Adelaide seventeen hours before to lodge a claim. Hughes told Horn to try to reach Adelaide before 10 a.m. the next day to forestall them. After a marathon ride of 164 miles (264 km) in twenty-two hours, Horn reached the Lands Office but found the rival syndicate there. When the clerk opened the office he recognized Horn and processed his claim first. The other syndicate also lodged a claim and the matter was investigated by a select committee which reported against Hughes but left it to be settled in court.
Hughes settled out of court, paying thousands of pounds for one of the richest mines in Australia; Horn became a shareholder.
( Extract from Australian National University's Australian Dictionary of Biography. For full Biography visit http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A090368b.htm )
The Event
The symbolic re-enactment of Horn's famous Ride to Adelaide will be a Yorke Peninsula Pony Club project.
Special commemorative medallions will be presented to all riders and it is envisaged that up to 20 riders will take part in three groups with each group covering some 15 kms at a time. A limited number of bronze medallions will be available for sale to the public to commemorate the occasion.
The ride will start at 8.30 on 12th June after a community breakfast in Moonta's Queen Square and will generally follow the original route over three days to Adelaide. The riders will relay a written message from the Copper Coast Mayor, Paul Thomas, to the Lord Mayor of Adelaide, Michael Harbison, and the ride will culminate on the Tuesday morning at the statue of Sir Walter Watson Hughes, in front of the Adelaide University on North Terrace.
University of Adelaide's Promotional Brochure