Dryandra Woodland - Department of Environment and Conservation ...

10. EUROPEAN HERITAGE
BACKGROUND
European occupation in the Williams - Narrogin area was first recorded in the 1860s with the issuing
of pastoral leases to early settlers. Sandalwood cutters, mallet bark strippers, and kangaroo and
possum hunters also visited this area prior to the closer settlement associated with tillage leases
(Pustkuchen 1981),
During the earliest years of this century mallet forests were heavily utilised for tannins. The settlers
needed capital to develop their farms and saw mallet as a means of supplementing their income.
Mallet bark worth 859 pounds was exported from Western Australia in 1903. In 1905 a scientist, Dr
Johannes Passler, delivered a lecture to the German Leather Industry in which he concluded '...that
we have in Malletto Bark a tanning agent which in regard to tanning property, equals those hitherto
known as the richest tanning substances such as
Mangrove bark...' The bark became well sought after by countries with limited tanning sources.
However, there were already concerns by the importers and the Western Australian Government that
the '...tanning material will be exhausted.' (Paton 1988).
After 1905, there was a steady decline in the volume of bark exports and by 1907 areas within
payable distance of the Great Southern Railway were virtually cut out and harvesting had spread
throughout the Great Southern District. The real danger of the species being cut out completely was
reported as early as 1908 in the Annual Report of the Woods and Forests Department (Germantse
1987). By the mid 1920s, the shortage of mallet was acute whilst world demand for vegetable tannins
remained high (Paton 1988).
Following extensive surveys of land west of Cuballing, the first portions of Dryandra were reserved
by the Forests Department in 1924 for the purpose of protecting natural mallet stands and
establishing plantations. A house for a resident overseer and stables were erected at Lol Gray in 1925
and preparatory work for the establishment of mallet plantations commenced in 1926 (Forests
Department 1926).
During the depression years extensive areas of Dryandra were sown to mallet with the aid of
sustenance workers. Forest Department staff were located at the Dryandra Settlement and additional
outstations at Contine, Congelin, Montague and Highbury. The outstations were strategically located
on the highest hills overlooking the mallet plantations and each had a fire tower. The overseer's wives
performed the tower work, informing the staff at the Settlement of any fires within the vicinity of
Dryandra. The fire tower at Lol Gray was restored by the WA Division of the Institute of Foresters of
Australia in 1986.
28