'... Mr O'Connor went to Burketown in March 1866, first as storekeeper, and afterwards as Postmaster ... the majority of the inhabitants were a rough lot ... many of Mr O'Connor's neighbours were men and women whom he knew from his previous professional experience to be criminals against whom warrants were out.' He had previously been a police officer.

The respectable inhabitants, being much in the majority, were afraid to interfere with the lawless mob of the place, who consequently did pretty much as they pleased.

'...The principal amusements in this happy valley in addition to getting drunk, gambling and fighting, were firing off rifles and destroying property. The erection of water closets appeared to give particular offence to these children of nature, being evidently regarded as an insidious attempt at introducing the thin end of the wedge of order and civilisation. Mr Landsborough (the Police Magistrate) stood by helplessly and watched the incendiarism of the closet attached to the Crown Lands Office. Other edifices of the kind were similarly destroyed in order to mark the indignation of a free people at any appearance of aristocratic exclusiveness... '

Horse stealing was another problem. Lieutenant D'arcy Wentworth Uhr reports: 'On the 29th July (1866) I started in pursuit of two horse stealers, Duffey and Holt. On 13th September I arrested Duffey and recovered all the stolen horses - ten. I took one of my troopers 800 miles with me; finding it difficult to get a supply of horses for both, I proceeded alone until I arrested a prisoner on the border of N.S.W. (Duffey on the 13th September). I then pursued Holt, accompanied by his mate Duffey. I followed him nearly onto the Castlereagh River, New South Wales, and got within a days stage of him. My horses being sore-footed and being unable to get a fresh supply, I feared I might lose the prisoner I had, so I went into Fort Bourke, on the Darling River, and gave prisoner to Sub Inspector Zouch on the 26th September. On 27th, prisoner was remanded to Queensland. I got a special constable sworn in, and returned to Barcoo.

On 23rd October 1866, I delivered prisoner to Sub Inspector Morrisset at Normanton Downs, on the Barcoo River, and went on my return to Carpentaria. On November 19th I arrived at Burketown, on my return from NSW and reported myself to Mr Landsborough.

Uhr's work was hardly finished; prisoner Duffey was sent to Sweers Island for safe keeping and there he joined forces with one Williamson, charged with the wilful murder of Charles Molloy. They escaped in a stolen boat but not from that human bloodhound and exceptional horseman, Lieutenant D'arcy Wentworth Uhr who:-'... employed a man, and gave him four pounds, out of my own pocket to accompany me in a small open boat up to Burketown about 24th February I 867. I remained there "hail fellow well met" with the rowdies then there, up to the 6th March 1867. I left town before daylight on that day, unknown to anyone, and alone, having learnt where I would be likely to get traces of the escaped prisoners.

I travelled night and day, visiting no stations, and disguising myself as much as possible. I had to take some rations from a shepherd's hut, which I afterwards acquainted them of. I came up to the prisoners on the 12th March, a distance of 420 miles from Burketown and with little trouble recaptured both of them. You will perceive by the above dates that I accomplished the distance of 420 miles in six days.'

Young Mr Uhr (he was not yet 22 at the time of these events) had many of the qualities of a tropical cyclone.

In 1867 a Chinaman was hunted down by a mob of his own country men, assisted by a white man and publicly murdered. The Commissioner for Crown Lands, Mr John Sharkey started to get concerned about law and order, and after repeated profitless requests for action to the Police Magistrate - Mr Landsborough - he addressed his complaints to the Colonial Secretary in September 1867: '... the only Police Force appointed to this District has been one Lieutenant and four troopers of the Native Mounted Police ... although three of the troopers have been stationed at Sweers Island ... only for a short time has there been any Police Officer in the district in consequence of the Lieutenant of Native Mounted Police having to perform ordinary Constables duty; the officer referred to having followed a horse stealer overland to New South Wales and conducted a prisoner to Cleveland Bay per sailing vessel bound for Sydney via Cape Lewin which caused him to be absent about eight months out of twelve ... the only two prisoners apprehended in the District, one for murder, the other for horse stealing, have made their escape, one only being retaken... ' 

Bullets were being fired at various officials and general lawlessness was the order of the day. The Colonial Secretary wasted no time and prepared to send two foot and six mounted constables. In addition to this Mr D'arcy Wentworth Uhr was appointed as temporary Sub Inspector of Police and given full charge '...of all police white and black; in the Bourke district...', until '...a more mature and experienced Policeman... 'Sub-Inspector Thomas Coward arrived. Uhr would be his subordinate and Coward had responsibility to report on the state of police matters. 

Uhr, probably resentful at this usurpation of his role, was offered the chance to read Cowards report before it was submitted; he refused, resigned and later launched a newspaper attack on Coward accusing him of misconduct; much of the detail was deleted from publication for fear of a libel action. Uhr moved to Normanton. He next attempted to secure a warrant for Coward's arrest on a charge of killing four Aboriginal men and when this was refused by a Normanton Justice, Mr F. Scarr, he appealed to the Government for action. 

In the interim Mr Uhr was in constant trouble himself, usually for assault, and managed a total of 16 court appearances in about as many months, and a sentence of fourteen days in the Normanton lockup. 

'...Then came the case that gave Uhr the chance to sink Landsborough . 

A man named Travers, with whom Uhr was a partner in a Norman hotel, faced a charge involving one of his Kanaka workers. 

Travers slipped town but Uhr defended the charge and lost. Landsborough and Scarr were on the bench. Soon after the loss, Uhr reported to the Government that Landsborough had illegally used his horse and that the findings of the Kanaka case against him were the products of malice and persecution.' 

Mr Uhr, who was not without political influence as well as a reasonable case, triumphed. Landsborough, Scarr and Coward were dismissed. 

In l872 Uhr drove 400 head of Dillon Cox's cattle from Charters Towers to Darwin pioneering the route: later that year he found gold at Pine Creek in the Northern Territory. 

In the early eighties, Uhr worked with Nat Buchanan, another legendary stockman and bushman, droving cattle for Panton and Osmand to the East Kimberley. After some further excursions into litigation, mining, meat supply and speculation, D'arcy Uhr settled in Coolgardie. 

He died there on the 18th February 1907 '...apparently from natural causes...' 

D'arcy Wentworth Uhr was borne to his grave by the acting mayor of Coolgardie, the Chairman of the Roads Board, the Chairman of the Race Club, the local MP and a representative of the staff of Butcher and Uhr, Ltd. 

His epitaph: 'He was a sure friend, an adversary to beware of, and take him with all his faults, he was always a man.'