The old faded-blue wagon had seen better days. Here on the Tuapeka West farm it rested under some ageing pine trees gathering the trappings of age and disuse. In the 1940s it was still a complete wagon with a shaft for the horses and all the gear. It was in reasonable repair and had, over its 50 years’ lifetime, suffered little damage. Its floorboards and wooden sides were intact, its large tailgate, secured shut by a chain at either end, still moved easily on its hinges. The wagoner’s seat, open to all weathers, was perched near the front right wheel suspended on leaf springs and well above the deck. In front of the seat was a large iron pedal that worked through a serrated metal slot. This controlled the brake, which acted only on the rear wheels.
If this wagon could talk it would speak of innumerable journeys between Lawrence and Cromwell under the guidance of its owner, John Stanton, a burly, straight-talking Ulsterman. Stanton had left Ireland to seek his fortune in the goldfields of Victoria and Otago but in the early 1890s decided that he would set himself up in a more stable occupation - wagoning. His main route lay between the Lawrence railhead and the goldfield town of Cromwell.
At some stage, Stanton secured a contract to cart supplies to the Cromwell shopkeepers Jolly and Sons. This was a profitable operation just as long as the Central Otago Railway, then under construction, didn’t extend far enough to divert traffic from the Lawrence-Cromwell route. But the writing was on the wall; by 1898 the railway had reached Ranfurly and the railhead was being used for goods destined further inland. Soon after, Stanton sold his horse team and bought a farm some 22km from Lawrence at Tuapeka West where he prospered until his death in 1947.
Stanton took about a fortnight to complete the round trip between Lawrence and Cromwell over the rudimentary roads of 130 years ago. He probably spent a day or so at each end of his route, seeking loads for his next trip. That left him six days to complete each leg. His trips were divided into sections - Lawrence to Beaumont, 19km; Beaumont to Island Block, 11km; Island Block to Roxburgh, 27km; Roxburgh to Fruitlands, 22km; Fruitlands to Clyde, 22km; Clyde to Cromwell, 19km. Whether or not Stanton kept to this schedule depended on a number of factors, including the weather, the state of the roads and his various deliveries.
The Beaumont section would be easy enough except for the climb over Big Hill and the soft ground approaching Evans Flat. In 2023, we can have no concept of the state of these early roads, especially in the spring when the frozen ground began to thaw, creating quagmires. Both winter and summer were not so bad, except for dust nuisance when the road surface was hard and dry. To complicate matters, wagoners waged a running battle over the width of their wagon tyres with the local county councils. The councils set by-laws governing the width of the tyres because narrow tyres inflicted more damage to their roads. But a wagon fitted with narrow tyres was easier to pull, according to the wagoners.
The second day was probably the toughest because the hill to Raes Junction had to be climbed. The first road was on a different alignment to today’s state highway, winding, as it did, up the gully to the west, surmounting the shoulder then dropping down to the hotel. From here to Stewarts’ Island Block Hotel there remained a few miles of undulating country.
The third day was the longest stretch though it was basically level all the way into Roxburgh. From Coal Creek to Alexandra was heavy going with steep pulls out of Coal, Shingle and Gorge Creeks. Perhaps he only got as far as the Shingle Creek Hotel on most trips. Once he reached Alexandra it would be easy travelling right through to Cromwell.
Drays could carry about two tons and had an important role in early transport but the heavy lifting was accomplished by the four-wheeled covered wagons hauled by teams of eight to 10 horses, invariably well cared-for, and carrying loads of up to seven tons.
The Tuapeka County Council licensed the wagons. In 1892, for example, a wagon with four inch wide tyres and eight horses paid a fee of £4 a year while a wagon with two-inch tyres and four horses paid £2.
The feats of strength, endurance and skill of these wagoners are legion. A good example of these attributes was when Browne Brothers contracted with the Dunedin City Council to transport the first 10-ton generator from the Lawrence rail head to the Waipori power house. Four well-known wagoners were involved in this exercise: Dugald Stewart, Donald McDonald, Alex McStay and Edward Pearson. Twenty-four horses were used, plus a supplementary team to cart timber to strengthen bridges and culverts en route. Even today the unsealed road between Lawrence and Waipori is somewhat of a challenge - winding, narrow and steep. That this team of wagoners and their faithful horses were able to accomplish this feat with the only mishap the breaking of a few chains speaks volumes for the skills of these men.
The impassable state of the early main road cannot be over-emphasised. Wagoners, if the roads were especially bad, tended to travel in convoys so they could help each other out. On one occasion in 1875 James Gawn’s wagon became stuck near Beaumont and 24 horses, in mud up to their bellies, failed to move it. The Tuapeka Times in August 1875 reported that mud holes were almost bottomless in parts of the main highway. No doubt with tongue firmly in cheek, the Times reported at this time that the man seen in Lawrence’s main street with a long stick was, in fact, trying to discover the location of his spring cart, which had suddenly disappeared.
The development of the steam-powered dredge along the Clutha gave rise to a demand for coal and lots of it. The larger wagons could cart up to seven tons of coal each from the local pits. Wagoners performed some extraordinary feats bringing-in heavy machinery, boilers, screens and the like from the Lawrence railhead. Crossing the Clutha via the punts with these heavy loads could be hazardous at times as they severely tested the stability of the punts, sometimes with fatal consequences.
On the main road there were recognised halts where wagoners camped for the night distant from any accommodation houses; at Clyde there was a halt on the Earnscleugh side of the bridge. There might be as many as 20 wagoners in camp at once and if the conditions were suitable - e.g., plenty of moonlight - impromptu sports meetings would be held, including racing, wrestling, tugs-of-war and weightlifting.
Janet Cowan in her Down the Years in the Maniototo, recounts the memories of John Nicolson, of Oturehua.
According to Nicolson, the horses themselves were invariably Clydesdales, large docile and, under the control of skilled teamsters, prepared to give of their best. As Nicolson explained, "It was a thrilling site to see a team in a heavy lift move into the collars at the gentle word of the driver, tighten the chains, dig their toes into the ground and, at a shout or a crack of a whip, lift as one horse".
"The wagoner’s day was invariably a long one. Whether it be summer or winter he rose about 5.30 or 6am, called his horses and fed them using sheets of canvas tied to the wagon shafts. The horses were then brushed down. A man could not groom eight or ten horses in the time available but he would brush out their sweat marks and examine their shoulders for any sores or hurt. He would look over their feet to see if any shoes had been loosened or torn off from the previous day. Most wagoners carried a set of farriers tools and spare shoes.
"After breakfast the horses were yoked and the day’s drive began about eight o’clock. The end of the trek and unyoking depended on the distance to the next camping ground but in the interests of the horses was kept as near six o’clock as possible. Unyoking the Clydesdales, unharnessing, feeding and covering would take at least an hour. Then came tea and afterwards turning the horses into the holding paddock would mean that it was eight o’clock before the wagoner’s work was done, fourteen hours after he had started. Wagoners worked for seven days a week only knocking off for a day or two when they reached home."
Alexander Don, in his Memories of the Golden Road, recalled that wagons used to leave Dunedin on Saturdays and after having a clear start they could travel on the Sunday without breaking the Dunedin Sabbath. If there was no wood available en route to build a fire, various substitutes were used - buffalo chips (dried dung), yellow pine (straw) or kaladdies (kōrari, the flower stem of the flax). A billy, frying pan and a stove made from a nail-can were hung on the rear of the wagon.
Don describes Freelands’ accommodation house on the Pigroot, at the foot of the final climb to the summit at Red Cutting: "At midday all is quiet, there is no movement on the road except for the odd flurry of dust. But compare this with the scene at dusk. The coaches from the Dunstan and Dunedin have arrived. Here too is the gold escort with its precious cargo of 10,000 ounces of gold under close guard throughout the night. The final group are the wagoners who bustle about seeking fodder from the hay and grain store for their tired beasts before satisfying their own needs."
The Rev. John Christie in his 1927 History of Waikouaiti provides clear descriptions of wagoners on the main road north of Dunedin. The wagons passed through Waikouaiti at the rate of 20 to 40 a day between the years 1863 to 1878. For the wagoners their wagon was "Their home, their bedroom, the rallying and feeding places for their horses; it was larder, granary and general store for man and beast in all seasons and in every kind of weather".
A quote from Helen Thompson’s East of the Rock and Pillar helps to underline the importance and value of the wagoners who plied the Strath Taieri route: "Let it be here acknowledged that Billie Watson and Charlie Webb (pioneer carriers), were of the finest pioneering material; the frontiers of settlement advanced with their straining teams and lumbering wagons and it was largely the courage and hardihood of the men who drove them that enabled the other early adventurers into the hinterland of the province to maintain the gains that had been won."
As Thompson notes, the life of the pioneer wagoners was hard and tough, not too much glamour there. They slept in their wagons on top of the load and many a swagger of the era was given a lift, a meal and a place to sleep. The wagons were out and about in all weathers, and when not near a township, broke the Sabbath Day by working on a Sunday. Winters could be really cold and there is the story of one wagoner on the Macraes-Naseby road who called into the Hyde smithy one night to have the heels on his horses’ shoes sharpened to give a better grip. Early the following morning this intrepid wagoner, seeking a shortcut, drove his 10-horse team with a three and a-half ton load on his wagon, across the frozen Taieri River on the ice.
