THE LEGEND OF THE BIG YELLOW SNAKE!
Bob Johnson is a part Aboriginal prospector, copper "gouger" and bushman from Mt.Isa in north west Queensland. His mother was a Kalkadoon, the famous Aboriginal tribe of the area. When he was a child, Bob was told by an elder of the Kalkadoons, the legend of the big and little yellow snakes.
Quite often, Aboriginal legends of the dream time are identified with specific geographical features in the tribal territory. Thus, Bob's theory was the little yellow snake of the legend referred to the outcropping reef of the Bower Bird mine, situated on the bank of the Bower Bird Creek. This is west of the Leichhardt River and about 120klm north from Mt.Isa. This was a rich reef mine last century but the ore body was only shallow and the mine was soon worked out. The ore body outcropped over a distance of 130 meters. The gold in the white quartz would give rise to the Aboriginal legend of the little yellow snake. This much the old Aboriginal had confided to Bob and admitted that this was the little yellow snake. But the old tribal elder further stated that the location of the big yellow snake would never be revealed to anyone, even to Bob, although he did say that the big yellow snake was over a kilometer long.
Bob is firmly convinced that there is a giant gold reef to be found, perhaps only a few miles from the old Bower Bird mine.
The country is spinifex desert, very hilly and waterless so persistent and prolonged prospecting would be necessary to find the big yellow snake. The geological conditions in this particular area would be favorable for the occurrence of another gold reef like the Bower Bird mine.
