Joseph Bolitho Johns, 'Moondyne Joe' (or 'Moonie' to his mates), was a good badman who gallops across the pages of Western Australian history with all the spirit of a wild bush brumby.

His prison sentences were frequently punctuated by spectacular escapes and, in the days when Aboriginal trackers were an integral part of the police force, when a horse was a man's best friend and bushmanship the measure of a man, Joe became a legend in his own time.

His story spans the colonial period from the years of convict transportation to the excitement of Western Australia's gold rushes. Joe's bushranging exploits and his determination to be free have a romantic appeal that cannot be denied.

He may have arrived as a convict and died a pauper, but he left an indelible mark on our folklore.

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