John- Your mention of the Culgoa and Thunderbolt reminded me of the meeting of one of my ancestors, William Beaumont, who was a station owner in the area. The details were obtained from one of the volumes of the History of Bourke. "In the mid to late 1860s, the North-West of New South Wales encountered an upsurge of bushrangers operating in the area. It seems from the press of the day, William Beaumont had first hand experience with the problem. There follows two accounts of an incident involving William and "Captain Thunderbolt". >From the "P.G." 19 April 65 - "On the 26th ultimo, Messrs Bowman (prob. Beaumont - W.J.C.) and Little's station, Bourke District, was robbed by four armed offenders, viz Frederick Ward, alias Captain Thunderbolt, William Mackay, and two others not described, of the undermentioned property: 4 saddles, 6 saddle straps, 1 bridle, pair of saddle bags, 2 double-barrelled guns, 3 red blankets, 5 pairs trousers, 2 pairs Wellington boots, 2 Tweed coats, 3 water cans, and 5 boxes of percussion caps; also a bay mare. Sergeant Cleary, Constable Byrne, and a black tracker, traced the offenders to Narran Lake, about two hundred miles from Bourke, and succeeded in finding Ward's camp in a dense scrub, about a quarter of a mile from the lake. Ward's half-cast woman and two children were found in the camp, also, the whole of the stolen property described, and 4 horses (see Horses and Cattle). The woman was arrested by Sergeant Cleary for having stolen property in her possession." (Beaumont and Little had "Towby" Run at the time; the holding may have been "Toulby" - W.J.C.).4 >From the "Empire" 2 May 1865 - *April 20 - Bushranging* *in* *the* *Far North-West* - On the 26th of last month the station of Macleay, Little and Co. on the Culgoa, about 100 miles from Bourke was stuck up by four armed men. There were about five or six men on the station and Mr Beaumont, one of the firm, was disposed to show fight, but there was no disposition among the others to help, so he was obliged to yield. They took what firearms and ammunition was to be had, and loaded two pack horses with shops and station stores, and took their departure. A special meesenger was despatched to Bourke, which place he reached on Monday evening. Next morning sergeant Cleary and constable Byrne, with the messenger, started for the station, which they reached in the evening of the Wednesday. They took their tracker with them, who happily belongs to the neighbourhood where the affair took place. On the following morning, that is on Thursday, having got fresh horses, they started, accompanied by Mr Beaumont and another black. In order that your readers may understand the difficulties of this pursuit, I may observe that the bushrangers had four days start of the police. They took up their tracks up the Brie and across the country to the Bokarra, from thence to the Narran. The bushrangers had fired the grass for some eighteen miles, to obliterate their tracks. On the second night the police came to where it is thought the bushrangers had camped on Sunday night, the fire still burning. Here the gentlemen of the road had shot a bullock, and cut what meat they wanted out of the rump of the beast. The police took up the tracks next morning, which led them right into the Narran Lake. A considerable time was spent in looking about for the way they had passed out of the lake, which is about five miles across. At last the tracker found the track of a pickaninny leading up a hill into the scrub, a little after that of a gin, which would appear to be their way to water. Just before this they saw a horse galloping along the edge of the lake. The scrub being very thick, they followed the track up a hill, about three hundred yards from the lake, when, lo, they came upon the camp of the gentry, Mrs. Fredrick Ward, alias Captain Thunderbolt's half-cast gin and pickaninnies were busy plating the stolen property. She recognised sergeant Cleary, and said, "So you are here again, are you, but you're too late, they`re off; we saw you when you came on the lake this morning." They found all the property stolen from the station, less what had been consumed - tea, sugar, flour, tobacco, slops, and three double-barrelled guns, loaded to the muzzle, and two pistols, ammunition, &c. They had to pick up the tracks of the retiring gentlemen, but they could not succeed, as they had taken different ways. They camped on the other side of the lake for the day, and at night they stealthily stole round to the camp, and planted themselves within sight of the camp, nearly the whole night, but without the anticipated reults. I ought to have observed that Mrs. Thunderbolt, who speakes good English gave them a little Billingsgate, and twitted them on their want of success, and was particularly severe on Mr. Beaumont, who, she said, was only showing off at the station when he wanted to show fight. On the morning succeeding their watch of the camp, they packed up the stolen goods and two splendid horses, and a mare and foal, bringing the good lady and young ones with them; however, she got rusty on the way, and threw herself from the horse, and attacked the constable and tore his shirt to ribbons. With her passion she brought on, or feigned to bring on labour, when they were obliged to take her to a station belonging to a worthy named Foster, where they left her. She frequently threatened them with "Fred's" vengeance. The goods were taken to the station of the parties plundered, and the horses brought on to Bourke. As a finale to this paragraph I may observe that in January this worthy, with one mate, stuck up a hawker on the Culgoa, and took a large sum of money and goods from him. It will be remembered, too, for it was recorded in your columns, that on that occasion Sergeant Cleary succeeded in tracking him to his hiding-place, near the notorious Red Town station on the Narran. He there found his lady love and the goods, and a horse with Mr. Moffit's brand on; he very naively said the brand was his, but not the horse. Now, as the captain has got two recruits, his operations will be carried on a more extended scale. Anent this horse, it may not be out of place to say he was drowned a little time ago in the Darling, and there is some reason to believe he was driven into the Darling by some of "Fred's" pals, as we had some bright boys from the neighbourhood in Bourke at the time. It has been said that a gallows is a mark of an advanced state of civilisation, so by a parity of reasoning I would say that the presence of these gentry as bushrangers in this remote and hitherto but little known portion of her Majesty's dominions, might be taken as evidence of a like state." Shortly after these events, Thunderbolt seems to have operated in the Cookeran (Corcoran) Lake area, and Mogil Mogil, Gunderbluie and Colarindabry ("Empire" and "Armidale Express") and then in the Tamworth and Taree areas. Early in 1865 there was an outbreak of bushranging south-east of Walgett." David Fitzsimmons