In May 1861, Patrick “Paddy” Ryan discovered traces of copper on the pastoral lease of W. W. Hughes and confided his find to a Port Wakefield publican named Johnston.

The pair tried to secure a mineral lease in Adelaide, but their information about the location was too vague.

A syndicate, headed by a man named Mills, was formed and members of this syndicate accompanied Ryan to Moonta to be shown the exact spot, after Ryan had been handed a signed agreement in which he was to receive  a fifth share in the mine.

Hughes heard of the discovery and lodged a claim in the name of a dummy, but it too was rejected.

Hughes returned quickly to Moonta with a surveyor, met Ryan, who showed him where he had found the copper and Ryan entered into an agreement with Hughes for a 10th share of the mine and six pounds a week, pending payment of the first dividend, despite having already signed with the other syndicate.

(Before the mine paid dividends, Ryan had drunk himself to death with the six pounds a week paid to him by Hughes.)

The survey information needed to be taken to Adelaide to John Taylor (who worked for Hughes’s agent).

W. W. Hughes said to William Horn, “can you get to Adelaide by 9am tomorrow morning?

“Some people are on the way there to forestall my claim and they have 17 hours start, but the government offices don’t open till 10 and I want you to be there before them.”

The race begins

“I had already ridden 40 miles that day, but I was young and light in weight and I told Hughes I could do it, given enough horses,” Horn said.

“Wills and I started, leading three spare horses. We went very fast for the first 30 miles, and then changed to spare horses, turning the tired ones loose.”

At Port Wakefield a friend of Hughes’s had fresh horses for them.

There were two tracks leading to Adelaide. The shorter followed the shoreline, which the others had taken, so Horn and Wills took the longer so the other riders would not know they were being pursued.

Wills later gave up, and a horse Horn had procured, a mare that had recently foaled, returned to her home when Horn fell asleep in the saddle. He lost 10 miles and was devastated.

He willed himself to keep going, hitting his leg with his whip, and suffered delusions due to the cold and exhaustion.

“When at dawn he reached the outskirts of Adelaide, the mare was so distressed he had to dismount and milk her to relieve her udder before she could go on.

“She collapsed at the Torrens bridge, so he left her lying on the road and ran to Jewel’s stables, hired another horse and rode at a gallop to the home of John Taylor.”

Horn gave the survey information to Taylor and him and the rival syndicate were both present when the Lands Department opened, but Taylor received first attention and so secured the leases.

A legal battle ensued which went to the Privy Council, Hughes settling out of court.

Horn had ridden nonstop for 22 hours, covering 164 miles and exhausting eight horses.

“He had alternated a gallop with a trot, dismounting occasionally to run beside the horse to take his weight off the saddle.

“Horn slept for uncounted hours and says for the next few days had to eat his meals standing up.”

Quotations from Oswald Pryor’s Australia’s Little Cornwall.