Where the Dead Men Lie

Retired drover and bush poet Bruce Simpson travelled along the old Cobb & Co coach roads and stock routes in western Queensland to find the final resting places of some of our earliest settlers. He tells tales of the perils of life on ‘the wastes of the Never Never’ and the desperate circumstances faced by victims of accident, sickness, raging bushfires and rising floodwaters – all isolated from help by sheer distance. Along with photographer Ian Tinney, whose striking photographs document these sites for posterity, Bruce Simpson visited some of the legendary drinking places, many in ruins, of characters such as bushmen and bushrangers – bringing to life memories of Australia in a long-vanished time.

Author Biography

Bruce Simpson, bushman, storyteller and poet, is the authentic voice of the outback drover; a living legend who recalls life in the bush on horseback. Bruce’s stories and poems offer a window into a way of life that is now part of our cultural heritage.Darren Clark is an Australian photographer whose work is represented library collections throughout Australia.