Tomahawk Tiger

Tomahawk creek hut – camp david
Tomahawk creek hut
Tomahawk Tiger

From huts to homes 

Tomahawk Creek was a hive of activity for fossickers in the late 1960s when the earliest huts were built. Many of these camps began as caravans and when the pursuit of all that glitters held the miners here, a lean-to constructed with billy boulder walls and a galvanised iron roof was added.

A miner’s right 

The first camps here were built in the 1960s on mining claims or under a Miner’s Right, a type of permit granted by the government. Following new legislation, the area was designated a Fossicking Area in 1986. This rendered some camps illegal; their residents, squatters. 

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At 2,340 hectares in area, Tomahawk Creek is one of the largest and most remote parts of the Sapphire Gemfields. Under the prominent basalt peak of Mount Hoy, the area is traversed by a number of tracks. The main track runs roughly parallel to Hut Creek where many camps are located. 

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Tomahawk Creek Fossicking Area’s place in the Sapphire Gemfields has been truly carved out by hand. This location has not been machinery mined. It has only been handmined by locals and tourists, with many visitors returning year after year.

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What is a billy boulder? 

Billy boulders are rounded stones of hard siliceous material. This is integral to the construction of miner’s camps and lucky for the camp makers, they are in plentiful supply across the ’fields.

Not a toothless tiger! 

Can you imagine what it would feel like to find one of the most rare, beautiful and priceless examples of sapphire crystal in the shallow wash of a creek? 

The Bennett family certainly struck it lucky in July 1976 when they discovered what they came to call the Tomahawk Tiger, an incredible example of a dogtooth sapphire.

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In world terms, the Tomahawk Tiger is an extremely rare specimen of a dogtooth sapphire because of its size and distinct tigerstriped colouring. At the time of writing, it is reported that the current local owner has vowed the stone will never be faceted “as its value is priceless”. 

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Some of the glass pieces in the Sapphire Reflections art feature at the Anakie Crossroads on the Capricorn Highway have been created from photographs of the Tomahawk Tiger.

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Huts: the fossicker’s life 

The huts here at Tomahawk Creek paint a picture of a fossicker’s life. These dwellings have long provided shelter in hot and dry conditions while fossickers spend their days pursuing treasure.

Tomahawk Creek’s unique architecture includes these state heritage listed structures: 

  • Built after 1969, Tomahawk Heights is a galvanised iron construction. 
  • The Lodge is the most substantial dwelling in the area. Built by Hans and Eva Hendrickson before 1984, it is 12-sided (a dodecahedron) with billy boulder and log walls. 
  • The unmissable A-frame building, known as Camp David is a fitting addition to Crystal Hill. The structure was built off-site and re-erected in 1984. The impressive coloured glass mosaic facade reflects the many facets of the Sapphire Gemfields.

Location

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Where to next?

Welcome to Rubyvale – ///autopilot.assumes.meadow

Policeman’s Knob – Rubyvale – ///today.elegance.spindles

Stonebridge Green – Rubyvale – ///incorporated.unmoving.property

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