This field saw the first prosecution of prospectors (squatters) on a WA goldfield, with 28 men charged in 1935.  The law had been in place since 1894 but had been largely ignored until mining companies became larger and more powerful.

One resident of the town, Agnes O’Brien (nee Hyland aka Roberts), was the eldest daughter of the well-known family of Hyland Circus performers who travelled widely around Australia and New Zealand from the 1880s to the early 1900s.  Agnes was a famed trainer of performing horses and was recognised as one of the finest riders in Australia.  She was also a buckjumper and one of the first female jockeys in WA.  She performed in circuses in Europe and America and was part of the Australian exhibition called “Wild Australia” held at Crystal Palace in London in honour of the coronation of King George V.  She ran the Tuckanarra Hotel in the late 1920s and then the store at Reedy for most of the 1930s until her death from a stroke in 1939.  She was buried in Cue Cemetery. Her younger brother, Leslie Roberts, died aged 8 and was buried at Nungarra, Sandstone.

West Australian 7 June 1939 MURCHISON IDENTITY.

 Death of Well-known Horsewoman

REEDY, June 6.

Mrs. O'Brien, better known as Agnes Hyland, a member of Hyland's Circus and a renowned horse woman, died today in the District Hospital after a short illness at the age of 60 years. Mrs. O'Brien was at one time a storekeeper and hotel proprietor at Tuckanarra and later transferred to Reedy as a general storekeeper. Her death will be deeply mourned all over the Murchison, as she was always a sure friend to any prospector who was short of either food or cash.