From    his    early    days,    Jack    Riley    consolidated    a    reputation    as    a fearless    and    dashing    rider    and    a    first-class    hand    among stock.    It   was   a   lifestyle   that   Jack   Riley   relished   and,   as   the   years passed, his love and knowledge of his high country environment grew. In   the   Upper   Murray,   Jack   Riley's   high   country   home   was   a simple   timber   hut.   Despite   living   on   his   own   for   most   of   the   time, he   was   not   adverse   to   visitors   and   was   better   known   than   probably   any other man in the mountains at that time. He   was   liked   and   respected   by   all   who   knew   him.   His   open   heart and   generous   disposition   won   him   many   friends ,   especially among    wayward    tourists    passing    through    the    area.    Gifted    with    an bushman's   unerring   sense   of   locality,   he   developed   a   quiet   contempt for   the   value   of   a   compass   when   in   the   hands   of   those   who   did   not know how to use one. In    the    late    1880s,    Andrew    Barton    'Banjo'    Paterson ,    a    Sydney solicitor    and    aspiring    poet,    visited    brothers    Peter    and    Walter Mitchell   at   Bringenbrong   Station ,    a   prominent   Upper   Murray property.   The   Mitchell   men   escorted   Banjo   up   into   the   mountains   and, while   passing   through   Tom   Groggin,   stayed   the   night   with   Jack   Riley at his station hut. Over   a   shared   bottle   of   whiskey   that   evening,   Jack   shared   some   of   his experiences   as   a   stock   man   in   the   high   country.   It   is   believed   that   one particular   story   about   an   exciting   horse   chase   through   many   hazards, where   'the   wild   hop   scrub   grew   thickly    and   the   hidden   ground was   full   of   wombat   holes,   and   any   slip   was   death' ,   that   gave   birth to Banjo's now famous poem. In   April   1890,   Banjo   Paterson   published   'The   Man   From   Snowy   River' poem   in   Sydney's   newspaper,   The   Bulletin.   Though   at   the   time   when Jack    and    Banjo    met ,    Jack    was    no    'stripling    on    a    small    and weedy beast ', the correlation to Jack's story and the poem is clear.

In   1895   Angus   and   Robertson   published   a   collection   of   Banjo's   work   in the   now   famous   book,   'The   Man   From   Snowy   River   and   other   verses'. The   book   became   an   instant   best   seller    and   is   still   in   print   to the present day .