Sand and Stone – Foreign Footprints
Police in the Kimberley 1880–1890s
by Kevin Moran
ISBN 978‑0‑85905‑447‑8, (2009), fully indexed, A4, Soft Cover, 271pp, 735grams
$40.00*+ POST
The author retired from the West Australian Police Force as Superintendent in 1994 when acting Chief Superintendent Perth Region.
Following on from his earlier Sand and Stone volumes, the author has systematically combed the police files to uncover these Kimberley stories. They are absolutely essential for all interested in the area. This is the first of 3 volumes on the Kimberley.
It is a chronicle of verifiable and uncontestable truth of the violent hidden history of Western Australia's Kimberley Region.
It provides an account of colonial police officers and settlers of Western Australia; their tribulations, bravery and sacrifice in this furthest frontier of Western Australia.
It tells of the aborigines who courageously and fiercely resisted their coming and suffered as a consequence.
It is of unsung heroes, both black and white, who struggled in a dangerous land wrought with fear, death and revenge.
It is of violence, mutiny, murders, villains, disgraceful happenings and bravery in one of most violent frontier environments of the 19th Century.
It is of adventurers whose exploits are as equal to any frontiersmen in the world and their heroic feats, regardless of current perspectives, would have in most nations been acknowledged and celebrated.
The persistence of the young men of the pioneer police force and the ability of the settlers of the Kimberleys to survive against the odds, should provide pride in the courage of our pioneers.
It demonstrates the Australian character, which saw future young adventurers become Anzacs, who continue as an inspiration to Australia's generations past and to come.