The Fontainbleu Dam Picnic Area, located in the Rushworth State Forest is approximately 170km north of Melbourne.
The State Forests around Rushworth and Heathcote are Box and Ironbark forests, which cover 24,850 ha combined. They boast a diverse history with many changes in use occurring over the decades. The Fontainbleu dam and puddler located here are examples of the areas rich mining history and are of regional heritage significance.
Aboriginal History
This area was long the home of the Nguraiillam-wurrung Aboriginal people. The arrival of Europeans to the district saw the demise of these people, after which the area became shared between three adjacent clans, the Yorta Yorta to the north, the Jaara Jaara to the west, and Taungurung to the south and east. Marriage was permitted between these clans and several dialects were spoken.
Ironbarks were called yirrip and box trees were called buludj. Ironbark blossoms were used by clans to make a sweet beverage, yeerip korr, and bark from box trees was used for building huts. Trees were also utilised for making weapons such as a lil-lil made from yellow gum, which could break your limbs, fracture your ribs and penetrate your skull. Shields called mulka were made from Ironbark and Yellow Gum. Possum skins were wrapped around the handles of shields to protect knuckles and provide additional grip.
Today the Yorta Yorta, the Jaara Jaara and Taungurung people continue to have an interest and involvement in this area.
European Exploration and Settlement
In 1836 Surveyor Major Thomas Mitchell explored this district. In 1836 Joseph Hawdon accompanied by John Gardiner and Captain Hepburn, brought the first cattle overland from New South Wales to Port Phillip and settled in the district. On the 22nd January 1838 Hawdon described the Waranga lands as “entirely new country hitherto untrodden by the foot of civilised man.” By 1850 the area was extensively settled by pastoralists. In 1853 Europeans with the assistance of Aboriginals discovered gold at the site later known as Main Gully which initiated the gold rush in the region.
Mining History
Fontainbleu reef was opened in December 1860 and mining continued for over three decades. Today you can see evidence of reef mining from the early 1890s. In 1867 a gold rush began in the area after John Woods Russell discovered alluvial gold in the Nine Mile Creek below Fontainbleu. John Woods Russell received a 50 pound reward for his discovery. In 1859 this area became part of the Waranga North Mining Division. Surface mining continued at Fontainbleu until the 1940s.
Reef miners working in the Waranga North Mining Division would have been envied as the reefs were reported to be rich in gold, “Yields of gold from quartz of great richness have diffused around a spirit of unprecedented enterprise.” In March 1870 the Mining Surveyors’ Report sates that “At Fontainbleu, Henry Thompsons average of nearly 3oz per ton is drawing attention to the numerous undeveloped quartz reefs in that neighbourhood.” In June 1889 the reef at Fontainbleau was stated to be “unlikely any hitherto worked in the division, being a saddle formation, with an average thickness of 12 feet, present depth of shaft 60 feet.”
Extract from DSE Forest Notes by Carolyn Slijkerman
The Geocache
A one litre systema with log book, pen and a few small swaps is a straight forward offset cache, head off for 158 meters following a bearing of 88 degrees.
