|
|
The Bulletin September 15, 1998
The Horses Too Are Gone reads like a wild-west yarn of the 1890's
with its cast of dingo shooters, pub owners, misfits, scrub-pullers,
drovers and gun-toting cattle duffers. As one Queensland station
manager warned Keenan,
"You ride with your gun, sleep with it and when yer squat
behind a tree, you have it in reach.
These blokes'd shoot a hundred cows just to get the unbranded
calves".
Keenan had figured that the only way to save his starving 1200
poll Herefords was to move them, by road train and track, along
the traditional droving routes across the border into Queensland.
He lived in the saddle and camped out for months at a time in
an area bounded by Roma, Charleville and Springsure. He met so
many characters “straight out of the brigalow” that he realised
he had the material for a book.
With Keenan gone a-droving for two years, the tasks of looking
after the home station was left to Sal. She occasionally acted
as back-up on the ride and had her own scary encounters. Three
of their sons Nick, Richard and Tom, also came along for part
of the time. Breaking family tradition, none of the sixth generation
Keenan’s is interested in a future on the land. “Why should they
be?” asks their father. “The old bush culture is gone. And so
many country people have gone to the wall. A lot had struggled
to get through the wool crash and then came the cattle crash caused
by the drought.”.
|
|
|
 |
Geelong Advertiser 1st November 2000
It's one of the more fantastic stories about early visitors to
Australia---ancient rock art in the Kimberleys. Who were the artists?
One prominent Derby Elder claimed the Egyptians had been here
a long time ago. Who ever they were, the deep gorges of the Fitzroy
River were shrouded in mystery.
Keenan relates in detail the difficulties mounting such an expedition
and the obstacles experienced as they ventured into wild country.
They were driven by a great sense of urgency too. There was a
plan to build a dam and flood all the upper Fitzroy River Valleys,
submerging some of the world's finest and most intriguing pre-history
galleries.
"With vehicle back-up we had about 10 people in the expedition,
but there were times when we struck areas where the vehicles couldn't
go and at one stage, for six days, we were alone in an area where
no one had been for 50 years." Keenan said.
When we reached the gorge, we left the horses and headed upstream
in inflatable rafts. We struck lots of trouble with rapids and
eventually abandoned the rafts to trek over torturous rock falls."
Some of the ancient rock art in the Kimberleys remains locked
in archaeological controversy. The exotic Bradshaw art is well
documented and dates back from 1500 years B.P. But there are paintings
of figures which have left archaeologists tight lipped. The degree
of antiquity is obvious to the eye of the observer---some ancient
and unidentified people landed on Australian shores in the Upper
Pleistocene period and either perished or were absorbed into other
cultures existing at the time.
|
|
|
 |
In Search of a Wild Brumby!
Gold Coast Bulletin 11th January 2003
"I reckon it's more dangerous than jousting," says Keenan. "The risks are so great
riding over that treacherous ground and the injuries suffered are shocking. But the
brumby runners are tough, like gladiators. They were as wild as the horses."
Characters such as the brumby runners provide the thurst, the spur in the flank
of In Search of a Wild Brumby. Keenan
says it is through the range of characters that the full, if
murky, story of the brumbies emerged.
Mudgee Guardian, 13th September 2002
WHAT a thoroughly enjoyable book this was from start to finish.
Anyone who loves horses, or any animal, will want to read this book.
It suits so many ages - from early teenager to adults.
The author Michael
Keenan has you there riding with him, twisting in among trees
and rocks with snow on your face, icy cold, then warm in front
of a fire with a mug of tea listening to the old yarns of
brumby chasing or cattle droving in the NSW and Victorian
Alpine areas.
|
|
|
|
