Cattle and convicts landed in Australia with the First Fleet in January 1788.
Along with sailors, soldiers and convicts, the fleet's as sorted baggage included one bull, a bull calf, four cows, sheep, horses and goats. The age-old silence of the "dream time" was shattered.
In the new and bewildering environment, convicts thought of escape but feared what lay beyond the edge of the dark and foreboding bush.

The cattle did not share their reservations and quickly went "bush". Seven years later, the herd-now 61- was found grazing near present-day Camden.
They had adapted well to a new land and climate, aided by a lack of native predators.
The government herds were built as subsequent fleets brought in stock from the Cape of Good Hope. By 1804, the colony had more than 2000 head.

Private graziers, helped by generous land grants and free labor of convicts, built their herds, largely on traditional English breeds. The Reverend Samuel Marsden, known as "Flogging Sam" because he taught the "way to righteousness" with quotes from the Bible and lashes from his ever-present stock whip, owned the largest private herd by 1808.

The crossing of the Blue Mountains in 1813 opened large areas of fertile land. The herds and flocks soon followed and multiplied. Governor Macquarie in his report to the British Government wrote that on his arrival in 1810, he assessed the stock at: homed cattle 12,442, sheep 25,888.

By his departure in 1821, the figures were: cattle 102,939, sheep 290,158.

ALAN CUNNINGHAM explored the Darling Downs in 1827 and reported in glowing terms of its potential for grazing cattle and sheep. But the Downs was not settled until a shortage of good land in NSW forced land-hungry settlers to look a field.

Patrick Leslie arrived in 1840, quickly followed by other settlers. They soon overflowed into the Logan and Albert River areas and then into the Bumett and Maranoa districts. Within a few years, north and northwestern Queensland had been settled.

The foundation of many historic properties and wealth of the "Beef Barons" was laid in the 30 years to 1870. The cattle herds also expanded rapidly in the latter part of the century. When Queensland became a sovereign state in 1859, cattle numbers were 433,000. By 1894, the Queensland herd stood at seven million. The great drought of 1894-1903 reduced numbers to less than two and-a-half million.

Cattle numbers grew faster than the domestic demand for beef. Surplus cattle were slaughtered for tallow and hides-a waste of a valuable commodity. At its peak, 100 boiling-down plants were scattered throughout the country.

A large overseas export market existed, but the technology to export such a highly perishable product had yet to be discovered.