Charles Lachlan "Charlie Mac" McKeahnie (29 April 1868 – 3 August 1895) was an Australian horseman born in Gudgenby, ACT to Alexander and Mary McKeahnie into a family of five sisters. He is believed by some historians to be the inspiration for the poem ' The Man from Snowy River' by

Banjo Paterson Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson, (17 February 18645 February 1941) was an Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the d ...

. McKeahnie was reputed to have been a fearless rider and stockman. He was known to have chased a well-bred horse through the very rugged country between

Yaouk Yaouk () is a locality in the Snowy Monaro Region, New South Wales, Australia. It lies in open grassland valleys surrounded by mountains on both sides of the Murrumbidgee River, downstream from and east of the Tantangara Dam, north of Adaminaby, ...

and the headwaters of the Snowy River north west of

Adaminaby Adaminaby is a small town near the Snowy Mountains north-west of Cooma, New South Wales, Australia, in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council. The historic town, of 301 people at the , is a trout fishing centre and winter sports destination situated ...

at the age of 17. This chase was documented in a poem by poet and friend of the McKeahnie family,

Barcroft Boake Barcroft Henry Thomas Boake (26 March 1866 – 2 May 1892) was an Australian poet. Background Born in Sydney, Boake worked as a surveyor and a boundary rider, but is best remembered for his poetry, a volume of which was published five years ...

called "On the Range" in which the horse being chased died when it ran into a granite outcrop. According to a letter by one of McKeahnie's sisters Lem McKeahnie, Banjo Paterson learnt of the tale in Sydney while in the presence of a friend of McKeahnie's, Mrs Jim Hassall. At the time Paterson wrote the poem, the

Eucumbene River The Eucumbene River, a perennial river of the Snowy River catchment, is located in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. Course and features The Eucumbene River rises below Shaw Hill, in the northern part of the Koscius ...

had been known as the Snowy River. The area around the upper Eucumbene and the adjacent upper Murrumbidgee was where Charlie McKeahnie had lived and worked. According to Monaro district folklore, Paterson had told somebody at the

Bredbo Bredbo is a village on the Monaro plains of New South Wales, Australia. The village is on the Monaro Highway north of Cooma. The village is in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council and had a population of 352 at the . History Located at the j ...

Hotel that the poem was based on McKeahnie's ride. McKeahnie died at the age of 27 at the Bredbo Hotel after a horse riding accident and was buried at

cemetery. He had never married and had no known children.

References

The Man from Snowy River revealed

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKeahnie, Charlie Australian folklore 1868 births 1895 deaths Adaminaby The Man from Snowy River Deaths by horse-riding accident in Australia Accidental deaths in New South Wales People from the Australian Capital Territory