Lessons from history can assist in management today by avoiding errors of the past. Kalgoorlie is a remote city in the Goldfields of Western Australia 600kms east of Perth with a current population of about 30,000. When gold was discovered there in 1893, thousands of optimistic prospectors flocked there before the development of any community infrastructure. A tent city and then a tent hospital developed, dealing with the problems inherent in remote mining communities lacking clean water and sanitation. Bars, beer and brothels traditionally arrive soon after mining strikes in Australia. Trauma, violence, typhoid and other infections including venereal diseases were common. The unusual feature is that the current Kalgoorlie Base Hospital archives records of admissions and discharges dating back to 1896. The clinical details of the first 298 inpatients admitted between 1^st December 1896 and 27^th April 1897 are presented.