Gold Dust and Iron Mountains: Marble Bar and Beyond: The Story of the Eastern Pilbara by Hugh Edwards

Book Description

Secondhand. Good condition. Wear to book corners and edges, with corners now protected with book tape. Previous owners have added ownership sticker to inside front cover and inscribed inside page. Interior and binding are still very good.

The East Pilbara is a vast, raw slab of Western Australia that stretches from Cape Keraudren on the blue Indian Ocean to the dusty Northern Territory border more than 12,000 km away to the east. The region includes parts of the historic Canning Stock Route and the Great Sandy and Gibson deserts—inhospitable badlands where explorers perished in the past and where modern travellers still die.

In contrast, the diverse territory includes the rich Pilbara river country north of the Tropic of Capricorn, rugged haematite iron ore ranges, magnificent gorges and national parks, and great northern streams such as the Fortescue, Nullagine, Davis, Oakover, Coongan, and De Grey rivers.

Against the physical background is the human element, the men and women who struggled to carve a foothold. Some made fortunes, some filled lonely graves.

First Nations people, explorers, pastoralists, pearlers, prospectors who came in the goldrush days, and the larger-than-life individuals who discovered and developed the great iron ore deposits have all played their roles in a story that continues to the present day.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers, please note that this book may contain descriptions and/or images of people who have passed away.