"FIVE MILE CREEK":  A FRONTIER LIKE NO OTHER!

Australian in the 1860's Offered Hopes of Wealth and Power to Americans

"FIVE MILE CREEK," a new dramatic series airing this November exclusively on THE DISNEY CHANNEL, recreates an era resplendent with the promise of wealth and power in the "land down under."  American prospectors sailed half-way round the world to "strike it rich,"  They endured the hardships and they reaped the rewards.

Life in the outback of the Australian continent in the 1860's was like no other.  During that period, 35,000 Americans came to Australia.  What they encountered was a country bulging with promise and progress spreading far beyond the mountains of the Great Divide, long a barrier to the move westward.

The stories of "FIVE MILE CREEK" features the "King of the Road," the stagecoach.  Small coach companies competed with the mighty Cobb & Co. for both passenger and express business.  Indeed, Cobb & Co. was founded by four young Americans in Australia, and grew to become the largest coaching company in the world.

Frontier life was far from peaceful.  With the discovery of gold north of Sydney and in the newly formed colony of Queensland, fortunes were made, and all too frequently lost to "bushrangers" (outlaws.)  The mountains north of Sydney were a haven for bushrangers who preyed on unwary travelers and robbed the coaches of gold and goods.

Australia in the 1860's was a land of small farmers battling to make their way.  Ranchers with large land holdings, thousands of sheep, and unlimited wealth and power made life difficult.  In those days it was commonly said that Australia "rode on the sheep's back."

With the telegraph beginning to break down communication barriers over thousands of miles and with new stagelines sprouting across the continent, "FIVE MILE CREEK" became a haven for the weary traveler, and the hub of activity from which our stories unfold.

# # # #