History: Mudgee Camping Tree
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1886
f.29 "The Monarch of Menah" A Flooded Red Gum, Menah Flat 7 miles north of Mudgee. - Presumed to be some centuries old. It was an old and vigorous tree when the first settlers in the district camped beneath it. 50 feet in girth a yard from the ground and 20 feet through. 18861 .
1921
Grouped under the Camping Tree, Menah, where the first settlers camped. The group was photographed after the unveiling of the dedication tablet. The inscription on the tablet, which is of slate from the Mudgee slate quarry, is: "Camping Tree". Under this tree first settlers of the Mudgee district, George and Henry Cox, camped, 12 February 1822. Dedicated to the general public by Mrs Mackenzie, grand-daughter of Henry Cox. 12/3/1921.
1951
31 May 1951
Camping Tree and the Jubilee Guide Book
(To the Editor)
Sir: - In the Jubilee Guide Book to Mudgee is a photo of the so called Camping Tree, under which it states there is a public right of way. There is definitely no right of way to this tree though there is one to the tree situated about 2 miles up the river. This tree is marked by an inscribed stone (made of Mudgee slate) and created in the Centenary Year, 1921, by the Historical Society.
In a letter, a copy of which I have in my possession, written by my grandfather, Henry Cox, he states its exact location as being about 200 yards from the back of the old Menah homestead. Half-way between it and the house is a large apple tree close to where the old lock up of those days stood. This was the flogging tree and not a gum as the Guide Book states.
I am writing this to let the public know the true facts of the case.
Another matter which I see in the Guide Book as well as in all the maps etc., is the way Mt. Froom is spelt & pronounced. This Mount, was named after a man named Tom Froom (pronounced as spelt), who was the first white man to climb to its summit. He was one of the men who came over from Bathurst with the two brothers, George and Henry Cox, with their 500 head of cattle, when they first settled in Mudgee. Tom Froom went up the mountain to try and locate some lost cattle, he thinking that he might see them from so high an elevation. He was either a bullock driver or a stock man. This may be of interest to the residents of the locality. B. F. Cox2
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