They were important in safely transporting gold, and were in most cases carried out by police assisted units.
[8] The Gold Escort route started in the Bendigo area and then went west across the Pyrenees to the small settlement of Horsham.
From Horsham, the route passed north-west through the Little Desert region into South Australian territory and then ran roughly parallel with the coast to Adelaide.
The bushranger Ben Hall and his gang made a surprise attack on the Araluen gold escort on 13 March 1865, as it travelled up the old mountain road, just outside Majors Creek.
Although one constable was seriously wounded, the police escorting the gold resisted, and the bushrangers fled empty-handed.