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Recollections of a Bullock Driver.

Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW)
Date: November 26, 1870
Page Number: 16-17

...
Mrs. Brown and her husband, however, as well as myself set our faces resolutely against any mischievous tricks being played upon poor Mr. Rogers. And my interference to this extent on his behalf was the more effectual, as we offered no objections to fun being extracted from his simplicity. One of the teamsters, for example, had managed to impress him with a belief in the existence in the bush of a nocturnal animal called a "Yahoo." But Rogers was by no means devoid of personal courage, and hence his credulity in respect to this formidable creature was not accompanied by the tenor that would have made it the rich source of fun it was intended to be. As it was the implicit belief which Rogers accorded to the story about the Yahoo, tended to preserve him from rather than expose him to annoyance. After nightfall, it was found, that he always had a pair of loaded pistols at hand, with a disposition to use them if attacked by that prowling biped ; so that nobody was willing to personate a thing of the kind except at a distance from Rogers that was not within range of a bullet.
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Recollections of a Bullock Driver

Yowie / Bigfoot

Contents

Added: 15-03-2014

Credit: Jon Wyatt

This article from 1870 is significant in that it links the legendary "Yahoo" to a rich tradition of storytelling accompanied by bush-theatrics within pre-federation Australia. Although some saw it as being a "rich source of fun it was intended to be", others were credulous - ie displayed a willingness to believe too easily. And what we believe is often what we see:

[T]he context surrounding what we see is all important -- sometimes overriding the evidence gathered by our eyes and even causing us to imagine things which aren't really there.

The symbiosis of storytelling and credulity which originally created the "Yahoo" legend seems very similar to what created the "Yowie phenomenon" in the 1970s and is driving into the 21st century via the new social (and storytelling) media...

The History of Yowie Research

Recollections of a Bullock Driver No. 1 (26 November 1870)

Recollections of a Bullock Driver No. 2 (3 December 1870)

Recollections of a Bullock Driver No. 3 (31 December 1870)

Recollections of a Bullock Driver No. 4 (14 January 1871)