Jimmy James most famous of trackers, attached to most South Australian country police stations in 1930s
A plaque honouring tracker Jimmy James at Berri on the River Murray.
Aboriginal trackers have contributed to South Australian police investigations since 1852 when 16 were employed, with that number growing to more than 65 in the 1880s.
By the 1930s, trackers were attached to most country police stations. Legendary trackers such as Alfred Ryan, Peter Aringa, Scoundrel Bob, Tiger, Andy, Pony Mick, Lanky Kana, Fred Cooper, Mick Mclean, Fred Johnson, Tommy Ridge and Alex Riley were revered by country police officers and local communities for the expertise.
Most famous in that long tradition was 20th Century tracker Jimmy James, whose association with the South Australian police spanned 40 years. Of the 104 times James was enlisted by police, two cases stand out. In 1966, nine-year-old Wendy Pfeiffer was abducted just metres from her family farmhouse in the Adelaide Hills, and was stabbed and left for dead on the banks of the Onkaparinga River.
James and Daniel Moodoo were called in to track her down. The search had involved more than 150 police and volunteers over three days but it was James and Moodoo who found her alive in three hours after following her tracks through more than 20 kilometres of harsh scrubland.
In 1982, James found escaped child killer James George Smith in the Riverland after six days tracking over 100 kilometres of rugged terrain. James was using tracking skills and instincts honed by generators of Pitjantjatjara men, to help finds many murderers, prison escapees and missing people.
In 1984, James was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his contribution to 104 cases with South Australian police. Trackers are famed for using their bush skills to spot subtle changes in the environment that reveal the path a person has taken in often harsh and remote areas.
Aboriginal trackers’ official role ended in the 1970s with the arrival of South Australian police dogs but they are still called upon in major cases.
