The 17th September 1892 was a landmark day in the fortunes of Western Australia. With the sun dipping towards the west, a young prospector named Arthur Bayley rode into Southern Cross with 554 ounces of gold in his saddlebags. The last of the great Australian goldrushes was about to begin. The claim that Bayley lodged at the Warden’s office was on behalf of himself and his mate William Ford. In their golden quest they had journeyed over 180 kilometres east of Southern Cross where they happened upon a rich alluvial field and, more importantly, a gold-bearing quartz reef. The locality would become known as Coolgardie, birthplace of the remarkable Eastern Goldfields.