Just after dawn on that morning, a cloud of dust began to rise high and long above the Tuggeranong Plain. It marked the route of a continuous line of horse-drawn carriages packed with people making their way to Murrumbidgee River. Everyone was dressed in their finery, men with dark suits, ties and best hats and ladies in long flowing gowns, jewellery and even finer hats. On reaching the river they stepped down from their carriages, brushed off the clinging dust as best they could and jostled for position along the bank of the river.

At 9am, a half company of the Queanbeyan Mounted Rifles marched out from the town, adding to the cloud of dust on the plain. By noon that Wednesday almost 1500 people had gathered, the biggest collection of people the district had seen in one place. Their carriages had been parked in a nearby field kindly thrown open by Mr A.J. Cunningham. The horses, unhitched, grazed nearby. The great occasion was the long-awaited opening of the Tharwa bridge spanning the Murrumbidgee.

The bridge was in its finery too, artistically decorated for the occasion. A kind of triumphal arch made of greenery marked each end of the bridge with a banner emblazoned with the word ''Welcome''. Along the length of the bridge were similar, smaller decorations and ribbons; ''making the structure gay in its baptismal robes'', enthused a reporter from The Queanbeyan Observer.

An official procession of the invited dignitaries was planned to start from Lanyon but had to be rerouted because of the thick dust still hanging over the crowd. Instead, a cavalcade travelling a much shorter route to the bridge, was formed. It consisted of the Queanbeyan band, the Queanbeyan Mounted Rifles, recently arrived on foot, Mrs Elizabeth McKeahnie (the oldest female resident in the district) who was to cut the ceremonial ribbon, the two local politicians, Edward O'Sullivan MP and Austin Chapman MP, and the Mayor and Mayoress of Queanbeyan. Following them were the carriages of principal residents of the district and escorting horsemen. The cavalcade entered the bridge through the green arch and halted midway. Mrs McKeahnie was assisted from her carriage and presented with a ''handsome Morocco silk-lined case'' containing a pair of gold-plated scissors.

In the centre of the bridge where the procession had halted, a bottle of champagne was suspended by a blue ribbon. Mrs McKeahnie stepped up to the ribbon and as if launching a battleship, and with deft action severed the ribbon with the scissors. The bottle swung towards the side of structure, crashed into a timber beam, and scattered its fizzing contents on the floor of the bridge. Mrs McKeahnie declared: "I name this structure the Tharwa bridge". With that announcement the 1500 eager onlookers cheered with great gusto and the band played loudly and proudly. One or two of the grazing horses looked up and blinked at the strange scene.

The procession then made its way across the bridge where Mrs McKeahnie was presented to Mrs Cunningham and other ''prominent ladies''. There was another special guest there for the official ceremonies. Nellie Hamilton (or Queen Nellie as she was then commonly known) was believed to be the last surviving full-blood member of the Ngunnawal people of the district.

Then came the inevitable speeches. Amongst those giving discourse was George Fane DeSalis of Cuppacumbalong, the nearest property on the western side of the river. Standing on the seat of a carriage, he referred to the importance of the bridge to the district and the advantages it would confer to the residents west of the river and to the years of inconvenience they had endured for want of an all-weather crossing.

Mr Edward O'Sullivan MP, who had been instrumental in procuring government funding for the bridge, then climbed up into the carriage and, trying to avoid party politics on this occasion at least, proclaimed that they were standing on the confines of civilisation. The unbridged river, he said, had been a bar to progress and prosperity, as for long periods of the year the people could neither get their stock to market nor procure provisions for their sustenance. It was this state of things which had animated him to agitate so long for a bridge. As long as he was their local member, O'Sullivan claimed (now launching into party politics) he would see that the communities on the western side of the river would suffer no more.

Austin Chapman MP then stood and admitted that while he had first opposed the expense incurred by the government in building the bridge (£4,469.14.10) he could now see by the enthusiasm of the large crowd that building it had been desperately needed and that it was ''the right thing''.

Christopher McClure, the bridge contractor, was next and admitted that he was a better bridge builder than a speech-maker but nevertheless, thanked the people for the strong appreciation of his work.

The speeches completed, it was time to celebrate the opening of this new engineering marvel. The Queanbeyan Mounted Rifles gave a display of riding and tent-pegging; there were games for the children and a cricket match. By late afternoon the horses became restless and it was time to head for home although some stayed on for a formal ball held that evening. Despite the long speeches and the soiled gowns and suits, the people knew that the Tharwa bridge did indeed represent a new boost to the economy of the region and more freedom of movement for the residents on either side of the river. It had indeed been a grand day.