TABLELAND THE HISTORY BEHIND MT ARTHUR - RAY SALISBURY - Potton & Burton
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TABLELAN D
T H E H I S T O RY B E H I N D M T A RT H U R
K A H U R A N G I NAT I O NA L PA R K
RAY SALISBURY
CONTENTS FOREWORD: Dr Nick Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 07 HUNTING: Dead or alive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 09 SEARCH & RESCUE: Lost and found. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133 DISCOVERY: In search of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 CONSERVATION: Seeking sanctuaries . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 MINING: Golden gullies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 RENOVATION: Historic huts ................................. 151 GRAZING: Beef and mutton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 CAVING: Final frontier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165 RECREATION: Tramping and camping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 EPILOGUE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177 CHAFFEYS: Alone together. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179 COBB DAM: Hydro power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 ENDNOTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 FORESTRY: Huts and tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
DISCOVERY
IN SEARCH OF
Setting the scene Waimea when Te Rauparaha’s troops invaded some decades later.
What is relevant to the history of the Tableland is the arduous route
W
hen Polynesians first sailed across the vast Pacific to arrive in the Ngāi Tahu warriors travelled. Leaving the Canterbury Plains, they
Aotearoa, they settled on the coast, where food supplies were marched north via the Hurunui River to Lake Sumner. Tramping over a
plentiful. Some travelled to the top of Te Waipounamu (the South low mountain pass, they traced the Waiau and Boyle rivers over Lewis
Island), which they named Te Tau Ihu o Te Waka-a-Māui, the prow of Maui’s Pass. Once over the Main Divide, they followed the Maruia River down to
canoe. This provided a safe haven until peace was broken when marauding its confluence with the Buller River (near modern-day Murchison). Very
tribes invaded, driving them into the bush. difficult terrain was negotiated along the Matiri ridge to gain the upper
However, did these early Māori ever breach the Mt Arthur Range to reach reaches of the Karamea River, which they then followed down to the sea.
the Tableland? Who first set foot on this land, uplifted high? Archaeologists When they passed through Karamea Bend, they were 10 kilometres from
have recorded about 300 Māori occupation sites in Taitapu (Golden Bay), the Tableland and 1000 vertical metres below it.
including pā sites, gardens, fishing settlements, urupā (burial sites), kōiwi During the late 1790s, a new tribe had migrated from the North Island,
(human remains) and middens (rubbish dumps). a branch of the Ngāti Apa, known as Ngāti Apa ki te Rā Tō, ‘the Ngāti Apa
In the Nelson region, early tribes included Rapuwai, Waitaha, Ngāti of the sunset,’ because they paddled their waka towards the setting sun
Above: Lynette Salisbury
Wairangi, Hāwea and Ngāti Māmoe. From about 1550, Ngāi Tara settled the from their tribal lands around the Rangitikei district. Arriving at Rangitoto clings to a chain above
Waimea district, west of Nelson; in the early 1600s, they were displaced by (D’Urville Island), they dwelt in the Marlborough Sounds and later in the a flooded section in the
Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri (originally from Taupō). Nelson region and Golden Bay after defeating Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri. upper Karamea River.
Opposite: Marble form-
For two centuries Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri dominated the district, their tribal In 1824, the paramount chief Te Rauparaha lived in a stronghold ations on the track up Mt
boundaries stretching from Karamea to Golden Bay, and across to Tasman on Kāpiti Island. He was attacked by a large fleet of war canoes. These Arthur, with Mt Hodder
Bay. According to oral tradition, members from this powerful tribe killed a Horowhenua tribes were supported by the Ngāti Apa from the Nelson area. (left) and Lodestone (right)
Despite being outnumbered and caught unaware, Te Rauparaha and his rising beyond.
Ngāi Tahu chief, Pakeke, at Maruia. To atone for this, Ngāi Tahu launched a
retributive raid to the north end of the island. Ngāti Toa warriors won the battle.
In about 1810, fighting men left the pa at Kaiapoi, in modern-day To exact revenge, Te Rauparaha’s men and allies from Taranaki launched
Canterbury, marched north and attacked Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri at the West invasions of the South Island during 1828–29 and were responsible for
Whanganui Inlet in Golden Bay. Under the command of their chief Wharekino, thousands of deaths. In about 1830, raids were made near Motueka. The
aided by a detachment from the West Coast, utu was exacted, and Ngāti conquerors had the advantage of using firearms, so local Māori retreated
Tūmatakōkiri was largely annihilated. With the passing of this tribe, most up the Motueka River to Pokororo, but were discovered. Smoke from their
of the original place names around the Nelson province were lost, though campfires and other signs of human habitation may have betrayed their
there is evidence that some survivors were still living around Motueka and hiding places.
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NELSON PROVINCIAL MUSUEM, DAVIS COLLECTION REF: 532
Lake Sylvester Lodestone Iron Hill summit Mt Arthur Tableland Mount Peel
James Mackay Arthur Dobson
(1831–1912) (1842–1934)
NELSON PROVINCIAL MUSUEM, BETT LOAN COLLECTION REF: 314705
James Mackay was schooled in Scotland until age 14 Te Tai Poutini (the West Coast of the South Island) Arthur Dobson’s father was the provincial engineer
when his family emigrated to Nelson in 1845. His father by the Crown for only £300. in Christchurch, so young Arthur had a head start
had bought land at Drumduan, just north of Nelson, and In 1860, Mackay turned his attention to blazing a in the field of surveying. Dobson was immortalised
was a justice of the peace as well as an insurance agent, saddle track from the upper Aorere River to the West by the naming of Arthur’s Pass, a traditional Māori
representing Nelson in the first Parliament. His son learnt Coast. He surveyed a rough route over the Gouland route which he ‘discovered’ in 1864, for gold
farming skills, and gained fluency in Māori from local Ngāti Downs, not quite in the exact line of the present miners to cross from Canterbury to the coast.
Tama.36 Heaphy Track. From the Heaphy River, Mackay left Arthur Dobson and his barrister friend William
Aged 21, James Mackay bought 1500 acres of land at his mates and trekked to Westport in a single day. Travers, from Nelson, would make geological and
Cape Farewell, Golden Bay, which he stocked with sheep. James Mackay made numerous visits to Westport botanical expeditions together to visit the Mt
The population there consisted almost entirely of Māori. as resident magistrate and goldfield warden but Arthur Tableland.
When conflict arose between new settlers and local finally left the coast in 1863 as the New Zealand Dobson moved to Westport, becoming the
Māori, he appealed to the native secretary to appoint him Wars escalated in the Waikato. He had also recently chief surveyor. In 1871 he was appointed as the
into a position to mediate. By 1858 he was appointed the married. For the remainder of his life, Mackay provincial engineer in Nelson. In 1875 he became
assistant native secretary and land purchase commissioner was involved in government and provincial affairs the district surveyor. By 1901, Dobson had come
for the South Island. around Auckland and Thames. full circle, being appointed as Christchurch’s city
From 1857–1860, Mackay negotiated the purchase of He died in 1912. 37 engineer, like his father. He was knighted in 1931. 38
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10 TABLELAND | DISCOVERY
MINING
GOLD
GOLDEN GULLIES
T
he mad rush for gold began in California during 1849, followed by
NELSON MUSEUM. TYREE COLLECTION REF: 35888
similar developments in Canada, South Africa and Australia. However,
in New Zealand, the settlers of the Nelson district were preoccupied
NELSON PROVINICAL MUSEUM, TYREE STUDIO COLLECTION REF: 74038
with breaking in their land of promise, growing and then selling vegetables
on the Australian markets for the gold diggers there.
In January 1855, a powerful earthquake rattled New Zealand. Registered
at 8.2 on the Richter scale, this shock was felt across the country – but brick
buildings were not the only thing to be shaken up. The fledgling economy was
about to get a major boost through increased immigration and investment.
In 1856, an astute Nelson businessman offered a handsome reward of
£500 for the man who could find a payable goldfield. Early settler John
Park Salisbury read about this challenge in the newspaper. His farm was
Above: George Lightband
producing very little money, though potatoes and wild pork prevented was recognised as finding
starvation, and as a single man struggling to eke out a living up the remote the first payable goldfield
Motueka Valley, he was certainly tempted by the prospect of earning some in the Aorere River.
Left: Sluicing for gold in
quick capital. En route to New Zealand, Salisbury had had six weeks’
the Aorere Valley.
experience on the goldfields of Bingara, northwest of Sydney. Opposite: Gridiron Creek
was the site of a goldmining
Collingwood goldfield scheme in the 1930s.
Rumours from Collingwood of ‘good gold’ spread like wild fire. John Salisbury persevered with his prospecting, aided by some Māori, and when a find
left his brother Thomas in charge of the farm, and tramped 96 kilometres of three ounces was discovered – enough to prove the goldfield worthy of
over the Takaka Hill, along the coast, and up the Aorere Valley. By the time exploitation – Lightband was awarded the £500 bonus, along with John
his food had run out, Salisbury had only found a few ounces of the precious James and John Ellis.
metal. He abandoned his claim in what is now named Salisbury Creek, near While the vast majority of miners originated from the British Isles, many
Bainham. Nevertheless, a year later there were some 50 diggers feverishly had tried their luck on the Victorian goldfields; a few had filtered through
working around his claim and so he applied to get the £500 gold bonus. from the earlier rush in California. By 1857 gold fever was rife, with 1500
Nelson storekeeper William Hough had made several trips to the Aorere workers arriving from the North Island and from Australia, as well as
Valley in 1855, and he convinced the experienced miner George Lightband about 600 Māori also at work on the Aorere goldfields. The tiny town of
to accompany him. During 1856, the pair discovered traces of gold in the Collingwood was booming with a population of 2000 miners, and Massacre
stream beds, before Hough returned to his business back in town. Lightband Bay was soon renamed Golden Bay.
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CHAFFEYS
GOLD
ALONE TOGETHER
P
erhaps the most well-known character of the Northwest Nelson
backcountry was Henry Chaffey. This non-conformist, self-reliant
entrepreneur rose from obscurity to become a name synonymous
with the Tableland region. Little is known about his early life, except what
author Jim Henderson gleaned for his book The Exiles of Asbestos Cottage.
Henry Fox Chaffey was born in Somerset, England, and later immigrated
to New Zealand. As an adult, he worked as a contract carrier in the Mackenzie
country, where he carried wool bales and sacks of grain from Burkes Pass to
sheep stations in the Lake Pukaki district.
In 1906, Chaffey owned a threshing mill in Timaru, and in 1908 he was Above: Doug Strachan, Phil
Beatson and Alan Brereton
divorced from his first wife, Laura Adcock. Around this time, Chaffey began
visit Arthur Creek Hut,
POLGLAZE COLLECTION
visiting the Nelson district, and the mountain regions beyond. Boarding the Chaffeys’ home from
with the Boyes family for several months, Chaffey proved to be an excellent 1913–1916. Left: Henry
blade shearer. He made annual visits from Canterbury to reconnoitre the Chaffey and Annie Fox at
Arthur Creek, a tributary of
backcountry. Was he searching for a new start in life, a place to call home?
the Leslie River. Opposite:
During 1911–1912, Chaffey teamed up with other men to prospect for Asbestos Cottage was the
minerals. They staked a 490-acre claim in the Grecian Stream and Ghost Chaffey’s home from 1916.
Creek area. His party was granted £104 for prospecting work. However,
Chaffey’s supervisor complained that ‘he reported valuable discoveries on didn’t hear about the outbreak of World War I for a few months.
several occasions, and each time I went out and found that he had found In about 1916, the couple relocated to a rough-hewn hut that was built in
nothing’. Mines inspector Otto Bishop complained: ‘He has absolutely no 1897 in the upper reaches of the Takaka River from the first attempt to mine
knowledge of minerals and is no use as a prospector.’ asbestos. Later known as Asbestos Cottage, the dwelling was clad in pit-sawn,
unpainted boards. A storm-worn, malthoid roof kept the rain out. Furniture
Lonely lifestyle was hand-cut from beech saplings, sacking was stapled to the rustic seats,
In 1913, Chaffey arranged with the Mytton family to host his secret lover, and a tin chimney was built on a rock pile. The cottage interior was merely
Annie Selina Fox, whom he’d met five years earlier in Timaru. She was fleeing a single room separated by a curtain, which hid a large double bed. For
a loveless marriage and left her two adolescent sons to be trained in the decoration, the walls were papered with pictorial pin-ups and deerskin rugs
navy. Annie Fox adopted Chaffey’s lonely lifestyle in a mountain hideaway covered the floor.
at Arthur Creek Hut, an abandoned miner’s shanty up a secluded tributary From this refuge, hacked out of the scrub, the couple could see car lights
of the Leslie River, described as ‘tolerably idyllic’, but so isolated that they climbing over Takaka Hill in the evening – the only sign of human civilisation.
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accommodate more day-trippers. After all these upgrades were completed in Left: Mt Arthur Hut in
1974 before it was rotated
1984, the climb up Wharepapa became extremely popular.
and enlarged.
During 1987, Polglaze went through an unsettling transition as the Forest Below: Max Polglaze is
Service was dissolved and replaced with the Department of Conservation. assisted by the packhorse
He didn’t cope with the desk-bound bureaucracy and resigned in 1988, Roddy, carrying gas bottles
to Salisbury Lodge.
accepting a voluntary severance payout. He felt the new regime had a traffic-
Below Left: Max Polglaze
cop mentality, while the NZFS was ‘a friendlier, old-time, bobby-on-the-beat returns to the Dry Rock
style of administration’. He was, however, re-called by DOC to renovate Shelter he developed near
several historic huts in Kahurangi National Park. Salisbury’s Open.
Opposite: A rustic three-
Max Polglaze was arguably the most likeable ranger to roam the bunk hut is hidden under
PHOTO: DAVID BLUNT
mountains of Northwest Nelson. He had the hands of a bushman, the head the rock overhang at
of an engineer, and the heart of a poet. Upper Gridiron. A fourth
mattress swings next to
the sunken fireplace.
Pages 120–121: The Mt
Arthur Tableland as seen
from the track up to
Gordons Pyramid.
PHOTO: JOHN JOHNS, POLGLAZE FAMILY ARCHIVES
PHOTO: TRACEY POLGLAZE
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Enchanted Land Tableland Open Salisbury Lodge Salisbury’s Open Balloon Hill Starvation Ridge Mount Peel Iron Hill Cobb Valley 1 6 TA B L E L A N D | C AV I N G C AV I N G | TA B L E L A N D 1 7
Although disappointed at having discovered no new country suitable for agricultural
or pastoral purposes in this direction and nothing but what seems at present to be
utterly worthless, rugged, snow-capped peaks and precipitous
ravines, yet the time may come when these mountain vastnesses will be penetrated
by man for gold, which I believe is to be found in them; and this apparent wilderness
may help enrich the province, which from its ruggedness and inaccessibility it now
appears to impoverish. –Diary of James Mackay
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