Wilpena Pound was leased in 1851 and, because of its shape- which provided natural protection, was first used as a large horse breeding area. The horses were simply led into the 'pound' and left to their own devices.
In 1899 the Hill family, who lived roughly 60 km away at Hawker, took out a lease over the whole of the pound. They cleared the land and started wheat farming. By 1904 the Hills were doing sufficiently well from their wheat that they built a small stone house near the entrance to the pound.This composite shows some of the farm equipment used to clear the bush - it was an old water tank converted into a huge roller It also shows a small section of one of the natural springs which provided water to the property and the home they eventually built. They lived there until 1914. They spent nearly a decade building a suitable road through the mouth of the Pound - to allow their bullock teams to transport the wheat back to Hawker. Then, one year, while they were at Hawker, a huge flood washed their road away - they never returned to the Pound. This composite is not to scale - the walls of the Pound are very high - the actual size of the house is shown by the small house seen on the far right hand side.
