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 was a Yorke Peninsula Pony Club project.
The ride started at 8.30 on 12th June after a community breakfast in Moonta's Queen Square and generally followed the original route over three days to Adelaide. The riders relayed and presented a written message from the Copper Coast Mayor, Paul Thomas, to the Lord Mayor of Adelaide, Michael Harbison at a public ceremony outside the University of Adelaide's Bonython Hall on North Terrace.
Special commemorative medallions were presented to all 20 riders who took part and their support team members.
Follow the link for a News report on the Ceremony at Bonython Hall.
Video Record
A 50 minute video record of the event shot by Russell Sobey and Rob Hanisch is available on DVD - Contact Russell for details.
A short video trailer of the event can be viewed below: