09 Oct LOCAL HISTORY WITH BETTY LAVER – BLACKGATE
Louis and Mary (nee Paulson) Gunzler lived at Commodilly on the Upper Calliope River. When Mary passed away in 1889 she was buried on the banks of the river.
Following Mary’s death, Louis bought Blackgate, a property in the Calliope Valley.
Louis and Mary had raised five daughters and the girls looked after the farm while Louis contracted out on jobs.
While on Blackgate Louis spent many years as a teamster on the historic Rawbelle station and had done the coach runs for many years. Joe Pitt was also on Rawbelle Station for a time and he courted Katherine, Louis’ second daughter. He came to the Calliope area around 1900 to work with Louis on his many contracts and married Katherine Gunzler in 1905.
Louis died at 77 years of age in 1913 and he was buried on the Blackgate property.
