Dead Man Rocks – the Murder of Phil Mack

The Murder of Phil Mack

DEAR “Non-Com.”-I am indebted to an old-timer and friend of South Guildford, Mr. W. E. Routledge, for sending me “The Western Mail”, and I always read with interest the Dolly Pot. One sees some glaring inaccuracies of early day events, but this can be expected after the long lapse of years.

A recent item brought back memories of the first battery we put on the Imperial Reward, near Mt. Flora, and I think it was the first battery on the North Coolgardie Goldfield. It cost £280 and consisted of miniature rock breakers and rollers worked by two handles “manpower”. It was soon discarded in favour of a sixteen-foot, stamper head, being sent up from Southern Cross, while a spring cart was broken up and the springs were set on edge in a cut-out cavity framed in a log. We were dollying up to 150 ozs per ton and carted the sand to any waterhole we could find and using a six-foot box lined with one of our blankets ran the water from a twenty-gallon canvas bag through the box. We lost over ten ozs to the ton!

We finally purchased a proper retort from a storekeeper at Southern Cross, and later got splendid drinking water in a well two hundred yards north of Mt Flora (near Leonora). This well was sunk eighty feet through slate and was permanent. My object in writing, however, is to draw attention to an article in your issue of May 13, contributed by “Materfamilias,” entitled;

“The Murder of Phil Mack – 1894.”

Evidently, your contributor was conversant with the movements of Phil Mack prior to the tragedy, and the description of the actual murder is near the mark, but the events following, as described by “Materfamilias” are not quite correct. Leading up to our party’s interest in Phil Mack’s death I will solicit your patience while I hearken back some months. At this time our party consisted of Oscar Oslander, better known as ‘The Yank’, Gilbert Henry Swincer, and myself, Norman K. Sligo.

Owing to a scarcity of water for our horses at Kurnalpi, we arranged that Yank and I would prospect E.N.E. of Kurnalpi, while Harry Swincer would remain on the patch. We travelled out about one hundred and fifty miles but got into desert waterless country and finally made it back to Kurnalpi. Hearing that gold had been found at Hawke’s Nest by Charlie the Goose, Harry and The Yank started for the new rush with the pack horses, while I went to Coolgardie with two horses and a spring cart.

Returning to Kurnalpi with a load of tucker I scouted some miles until I cut Charlie the Goose’s tracks and followed them to Pindennie Soak, where Harry and Yank joined up, having left Hawke’s Nest. Harry and Yank in the meantime took Bill Street, generally known as ‘Liverpool Bill’, into the party and we moved on to the Wallaby Rocks where we left Yank and Liverpool to mind the horses and pack water while Harry and I prospected the country towards Mt. Margaret. Within a short time, we located gold and applied for a reward claim, to be known as the Red Castle.

George Mason tracked us down and we took him in as a partner on condition that he kept the find quiet until the reward claim was granted. At this time we located and shifted the horses to Brickey’s Soak and later Darcy Uhr and party were also camped at Brickey’s when Phil Mack’s mate, ‘Sunshine Fowler, from Western New South Wales, galloped into camp with news of his mate’s murderous attack by natives at the Wallaby Rocks. He said how a tall man and his woman came into their camp and asked for tucker. While Phil and his mate were crouched down being shown a map drawn in the sand by the woman the other man struck Phil with a tomahawk in the back of the head, mortally wounding him. Sunshine only escaped a similar fate by raising his arm just in time, the blow almost severing his fingers.

In a very short time a party of prospectors, armed with rifles and revolvers, were in the saddle and, making their hacks do their best, soon reached the scene of the tragedy. Slowing up to leave a man in charge of the body, the remainder galloped hard to intercept about forty natives making for the scrub to the southeast of Wallaby Rocks. The prospectors surrounded them and cutting out one previously described by Mack’s mate surrounded him. This man was known to the prospectors owing to being well over six feet in height. He was identified by Mack’s mate without hesitation. One of the men held out his rifle to Mack’s mate, and said,

“There’s the man who killed your mate. Shoot him.”

It so happened that Jerry McAuliffe, pioneer prospector, and his native boy, Toby, who were on their way west to the 90 Mile, were camped further east along the lake. Fowler’s shot rolled down the lake to their ears. Sensing something was wrong they raced in the direction of the report. Moving out east from the 90 Mile, the “Singer” Frank Cavill, also heard the shot and hastened to the spot.

Gazing down at the dead body of Phil Mack, McAuliffe told Toby to follow Wall-eye Joe.  Early next day Toby caught up with Walleye Joe. He lifted his rifle and with unerring aim brought the fugitive crashing to the ground. Toby brought the fatally wounded Walleye Joe back to the white men among whom he died.

The group of silent men, their parched, weathered faces barren of emotion, laid Phil Mack to rest in the shadow of the outcrop of rocks close by. Logs were placed around the grave and the words, “Phil Mack, killed by Blacks, July 18, 1894,” was hammered in the lid of a meat box.  From then on the rocks sheltering Phil Mack in his last sleep were called Dead Man’s Rocks.