|
In the book 'The Explorers' edited by Tim Flannery, he says that "European explorers continued to take Aborigines with them, who often earned the undying gratitude and admiration of the fellow expeditioners. Yet it never earned them the respect of society at large. Typical of their fate in this respect, perhaps, is Tommy Windich, guide and closest companion of John Forrest during his three arduous expeditions through the worst of Australia between 1869 and 1874. He, Windich, repeatedly found water for the party when they were in dire distress, provided most of the fresh meat they consumed, and risked his life in confronting other Aborigines who wished to deny the expeditioners passage. Windich probably could have made the journey alone. I doubt that any of the Europeans in Forrest's party could have done the same."
In 'Esperance Today and Yesterday' John Rintoul writes, "New Year's Day 1875 no doubt passed as usual in Esperance, but at Albany, Governor Weld erected the first pole of the interstate telegraph line. The guide for those who were constructing the line was Tommy Windich who, in February 1876 when the line was still some way from Esperance, contracted pneumonia. He was brought to the Dempster homestead and in his dying days was nursed by Mrs Hannett. Windich had accompanied John Forrest in his expedition, as well as being a member of the parties led by Alexander Forrest and that of C.C. Hunt when he explored the Hampton Plains. John Forrest, on hearing of Windich's death, said 'I am sure he was the most experienced and best bushman in the colony. The tidings of his death are especially sad to me, and I feel that I have lost an old and well tried companion and friend.' Today Windich sleeps in a grove of small, green trees amongst the sand dunes close to Dempster Head, and in Esperance, Windich Street keeps alive the memory of a faithful native who played his pad in the pioneering days of Esperance." Because of the development of grain exporting near Dempster Head, the tombstone – bearing the words 'great intelligence and fidelity' and 'Be ye also ready' – has been moved nearer the road. When I was a child in Esperance in the 1940s it was near the sand dunes but a couple of years ago I found it nearer the road in a small park at the bottom of Wireless Hill. |