Durack's Folly

Statement of Significance

Up to about the Great War the road from Ivanhoe Station to Argyle Station passed through the cockatoo sand country, which was heavy going for horse and buggy. Patsy Durack devised the idea of a route which would be shorter and firmer. A team of men built the bush road, which was quite an engineering feat given the steep and rocky terrain. One of the team died and was buried at the foot of Durack's Folly, a name given by sceptics who thought the road an impossibility. The steep descent was scary to people and cattle alike. (Cattle were lost as they got up speed and disappeared over the edge. Trees were cut to drag as a brake behind the buggies in their descent). The road was used for many years by teamsters and travellers with buggies, wagons or drays, as it shortened the track between Ivanhoe and Argyle by twenty miles.

Physical Description

To enable a shorter road to be constructed between Argyle and Wyndham, a track had to be cut through the rocky terrain up in the Carr Boyde Range on the east side of the Ord River. The southern slope to the top was short and steep. The northern slope was gentle. The route was surveyed by Patsy Durack, and Scanlon cut a track up the side of the hill, and built it up with stones where it needed widening and strengthening.

Uses

Creation Date

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