In 1886, a notorious gang of horsemen wreaked havoc on the Overlanders’ Trail that stretched across the Northern Territory into the wild Kimberley region. They stole cattle with audacity, brazenly held up pubs and cattle stations, and drove a herd of stolen horses with unmatched daring. As part of the Halls Creek goldrush, these men became infamous as the Ragged Thirteen. Dubbed by some as the “Tea and Sugar Bushrangers” and by others as “the scum of the four colonies, fugitives from justice,” the Ragged Thirteen were more than outlaws. They were brilliant horsemen, masterful bushmen, lovers of bush poetry, and champions of the underdog. In this meticulously researched account, Derek Pugh retraces their 138-year-old trail across the Top End, from Mataranka to Halls Creek, to uncover the extraordinary true story of these legendary figures of Australia’s wild frontier.
