The Bushman – our symbol of quality and authentic taste
There’s a yarn in Australian folklore that beef jerky began in Australia, when the country was wild, and men in the outback single handedly built their huts and rounded up horses and cattle. They were the original Australian Bushmen.
Tastes were simple and times were hard and often a piece of dried meat and a warm fire was all they had for survival. One such man was James McGregor, not just any bushman but known as “The Bushman”. Legend has it he was a bit of a larrikin and the constabulary sometimes had an interest in him, although he was never charged with any offence.
It is said he would boast to others that if it weren’t for Mary-Annie’s dried beef, he’d never have lasted the long outback rides. McGregor and his wife Mary-Anne gained notoriety as great horse and cattle handlers.
Also woven into outback history is that descendants of The Bushman and Mary-Annie settled somewhere in Northern New South Wales and became respected cattle graziers. We may never know for sure, but the legend of premium beef jerky in Australia lives on today.
