The stories of more than 50 pioneering families in the Einasleigh region of North Queensland feature in a new book.
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Unearthing Einasleigh and District's Bygone Years is the work of self-proclaimed bush author, Colleen Taylor, Dimbulah, who has trolled through the archives and recorded more than 40 interviews with Etheridge Shire's pioneering families.
Mrs Taylor, who has published two other books, champions the need to record history, to leave a "treasure trove" for younger generations.
"I am a lover of North Queensland history," she said.
"I feel it most important that it be recorded in respect to those inspirational pioneers.
"They were the ones that threaded the tapestry and buried their loves ones in isolated places.
"Their surnames carry on and proudly five to seven generations are still living and developing their ancestors' properties."
Pioneers like Adelaide French, who was born in 1934 and grew up in Kidston on the Copperfield River, and worked on and around nearby properties, with her husband Gus, before settling at Gilberton Station where she spent most of her life.
"In my lifetime I have seen the progression from wagons and buggies to the first motor cars coming into the district," Mrs French says in the book.
"As time went on we went from carbide lamps to generators and weekly mail runs. Now days there are things called computers - I don't have one and am now to old to bother.
"I worry about what the next 80 years will bring to my grandchildren. Oh how times have changed, but I wouldn't change it."
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The 60 chapter book tells the vision and foresight of the "tough ordinary people", trailblazers in the outer reaches of the Einasleigh district, brought to life from photos, newspaper clippings, diaries of ancestors and tales.
With many of those featured still living remotely and without the benefits of modern technology, Mrs Taylor reverted to the traditional forms of communication - pen, paper and postage - to ensure she got their stories.
"I can feel their vision for a better lifestyle for their families to settle at the crossroads, making a living in the fields of mining, clearing the land to build a homestead, droving, fencing, market gardeners, railway workers, hoteliers and more," said Mrs Taylor, who received a Regional Arts Development Funding grant from Etheridge Shire Council for the project.
"They toiled so willingly to open this northern part of North Queensland."
The book, being published by Julatten-based Bowerbird Publishing, will be officially launched at the Einasleigh Christmas in July event, 28 to 30 July.
Copies of the book will be available at Mareeba outlets - Under Blue Skies Bookshop, Nextra Mareeba News and Claude Caters Mensland - or direct from Mrs Taylor on 0474 035 111.
