Explorer tree
Blazed tree on the Douglas Creek - H. Dowd 1885
Explorers, surveyors and prospectors all left marks of their travels
as they explored new country. One of the most popular ways of doing
this was by cutting the outer bark layers away from a tree trunk
and engraving their initials and message on the inner wood. This
process was called blazing.
This tree was blazed by a prospector named H. Dowd in 1885. We
have never been able to read anything in this blaze other than "DOW"
but in March 1985 the Surveyor General supposedly read "H.
Dowd 1885". David Lindsay reported a "H. Dowd prospector"
blaze in December 1891 near Mt Kenneth (WA) so it is quite possible
there is a connection and some accuracy in the Surveyor General's
reading of this blaze.
The Dowd Tree is located on the Douglas Creek immediately north
of William Creek. The fresh axe marks on the left of the blaze are
an unfortunate example of ill-considered heritage vandalism.
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