At the end of Lupton Road on the Logan River lies an old rotten log across the stream.
Having endured many floods, this log dates back to an incident in 1875 and an attempt to save the life of a wife and mother, Ann Colgan.
The Colgan family had arrived from Ireland in the 1860s. After a period at the Logan Agricultural Reserve, they gained a selection of land adjacent to Dam Dam Gully on Bromelton House Road. The property is adjacent to the Deeran Bridge.
In 1875, Mrs Colgan contracted Tuberculosis and became very ill. With the Logan River flooded, it would not be easy to cross the river in an attempt to reach the small township of Beaudesert.
Finding a suitable tree, members of the family felled the tree to create a makeshift bridge. Foot holds were notched into the tree to facilitate their passage across the bridge.
The work of the family proved unsuccessful, and Mrs Colgan died. Her body was brought back to their property, and she is buried on the crest of the hill. For many years, a picket fence surrounded the grave, but time has taken its toll on this.
The “Bridge Tree” has slipped down the bank over the years, finally resting in the water.
Mrs Colgan’s daughter, Kate married Michael Moloney later in 1875, having twelve children and many local descendants. Her son Tom had six children. Although the story of Mrs Colgan is known to some of her descendants, I am unsure how many would appreciate how hard things were for their ancestors, and how they used ingenuity in an attempt to save Mrs Colgan.
