Showdown at Boulder Ridge

In the tiny town of Wallaroo, isolated by the tyranny of distance and appalling roads, the locals seemed peaceable enough. But simmering just below the surface, the tensions of the racial divide were set to boil over. All it needed was a catalyst and that catalyst arrived along with a stranger in town, Bud Platz.
The activities of Platz and his partners may have been kept under control had not circumstances and a crooked cop conspired to assist their cause. By the time their evil ambitions became obvious, it was too late.
Platz recruited men of similar flawed beliefs and with them, terrorized those he hated most, the Aborigines. With little opposition, they did as they pleased until one day, they took a step too far and threatened the one person unafraid to stand up to them. Even with the bitter animosity between them, no one would have guessed that their differences would eventually be settled by a gun fight.
Of course, there are several interesting characters, all part of this drama. Kitty, a crack shot and sharp shooter was destined to become the heroine. Win the witch ran a sly grog shanty where many a thirsty traveler, if they were lucky enough to survive, never went there again. Lillian, a young maid fresh out of school but whose background wasn't all roses in the garden, fell in love. And, the loveable and intensely loyal Chinese market gardener, Wong Yong.
Most of us read westerns with tongue in cheek but this story is based on facts. The main theme concerns racial discrimination, so prevalent at that time.
The showdown at Boulder Ridge, the gun fight and the aftermath, was, in the interest of those forced to take up arms to defend a cause, kept as quiet as possible. But to this day, stockmen sitting around the camp fire and shearers on the wool-shed floor, listen, mouths agape, to those few who know the story of the showdown at Boulder Ridge.