Sandalwood in Western Australia.

In 1845 the first small batch of Santalum spicatum sandalwood was exported to Sri Lanka, closely followed by larger batches to Singapore and other East Asian countries. As the months turned into years the WA sandalwood industry was growing quickly and the sandalwooder’s profit increased, reflecting the superior quality of the product. By 1848 the Colony was booming, and sandalwood had become the primary industry. Many of the Avon Valley settlers had turned to the industry, but it was not for the faint hearted. Cutters spent weeks away in the bush with slim stores of food and water, while also trying to keep their families and animals fed and watered.

Sandalwood cutters would use bullocks and camels to haul loads of timber out of the scrub and down through the Darling Ranges to Fremantle where the timber would be exported. Taxes, legislation, and competition from Indian sandalwood all played a part in stalling the industry for a number of years from 1848. In the eight year hiatus with no exports of sandalwood much work was done clearing more land and improving roads. Access further access inland was helped with the coming of the railway line. A railway line from Fremantle to Guildford in 1881 was then extended all directions of WA over the next century. It connected east out to the goldfield’s region, the honey pot of sandalwood in Western Australia.

The railway lines connected the export ports of Albany and Fremantle to large areas of uncut native sandalwood plantations in the southern, northern, central, and eastern regions of WA gave the West Australian sandalwood industry the transportation network needed to become further established. It thrived from the mid 1880’s and it continued to grow and gain momentum, establishing itself in history as the core industry and Western Australia’s launching pad that paved the way for the gold rush and grain growing.