History – A legendary stockman

Robert (Big Bob) Ross was a renowned stockman in Albertland during the late 1800s and early 1900s. He was the eldest son of Robert S. Ross, who moved to Kaiwaka after working as a shepherd in the Waikato. The 1959 Centennial of Kaiwaka booklet included this story, related by Bob’s wife, then in her nineties: “When Bob was a lad in the early 1860s, his father sent him to Waipu to buy a bullock. Payment for this beast was pinned to his shirt for safety. When Bob reached Waipu he met two Nova Scotians who discussed the deal in Gaelic, saying they couldn’t let Ross Snr have the bullock at that price. Bob listened for a while then replied, also in Gaelic. His knowledge of the dialect so impressed the men they immediately agreed to Ross’s offer. After that, young Robert could hardly have grown up to be anything but a cattle dealer.”

Together with his partner Harry Linnell, Bob drove mobs of cattle to Auckland, once taking 1000 head, which swamped the market and lost them money. In 1876, T. E. FitzGerald bought the 24,000 acre Okahukura Block (now Tapora) which became known as FitzGerald’s Run. Bob Ross was employed from time-to-time mustering and selling cattle. When FitzGerald retired due to old age, in 1896, it was Ross who sold off the stock – cattle, horses and a few donkeys. FitzGerald’s successor was Mr A. Walker who leased the property. One of his first priorities was to remove all the wild cattle, a job entrusted to Ross, then in his late forties. It’s hard to imagine how tough it was to round up these animals. Some were in remote parts of the run and had never been mustered, and there were at least 200 bulls, none of which had ever been inside a stockyard. The bulls had to be destroyed on the property, but the other stock was driven in mobs, by road, to Auckland. Helping Ross and his men with this job, which took many months, were locals Alf Boot, Percy Grice and Wana Paikea.

Ross was described as an immensely powerful man, easily able to throw a full grown bullock on his own. Seizing it by the lower jaw and one of its horns, with a vigorous twist of its neck, he could bring it to the ground and hold it there.

If a beast broke away in open country, Ross would gallop alongside the fleeing animal, grab it by the tail and, with a sudden heave, throw it off balance so it fell. If he had to catch the animal he could be off his horse and have hold of the beast before it could get up again. Bob Ross’s later years are a bit of a mystery, but records show he passed away in 1929 aged 76 and is buried in St Michael’s Church Cemetery, Hakuru.

Sources: Kaiwaka Centennial Booklet and Albertland Museum archives.

Lyn Johnston
Albertland Museum
albertland.co.nz