THE SPREAD OF PASTORAL OCCUPATION.
After the Canoona rush in 1858 and 1859, the tide of pastoral run
hunting set in; the route northwards followed by stock going out to
occupy new country led by Princhester and through Marlborough. Here the
route turned off westwards towards the Peak Downs, and extended still
further to the interior where the Barcoo, Thomson, and Alice Rivers
flowed into a mysterious land. The northern road led on to Broad Sound,
where Connor's Range had to be passed; this spur of the main coast range
comes close in to the coast. Overlanders could not avoid crossing it,
and this was an undertaking. It was reckoned to be two miles from the
first rise to the summit, and to get drays and stock across sometimes
took several days, as they had to unload some of their goods at the
steep pinches and return empty for the balance of the loading. The road
was in a state of nature, and wound round gullies and sidings through
the forest trees that grew on the steep sides of the mountain; many a
curse was wasted on its stony, dusty inclines ere the long looked for
summit was reached. After crossing the range, the first settlement in
those early days, about 1860, was Lotus Creek station. From Lotus Creek
the road led on to Fort Cooper station, considered one of the best coast
stations then discovered. As early as 1863, Nebo Creek, west of Mackay,
was made a recruiting centre, where stores could be obtained from a firm
named Kemmis and Bovey. Passing along Funnel Creek, still going
northwards, the head of the Bowen River was reached.
The Bowen River country was soon occupied with runs and stock from the
south, passing along the coast route that led by Rockhampton,
Marlborough, and Nebo. The roads were lined with flocks and herds of
those entering on the pioneering work of the North of Queensland, and
business men were following in the wake of the early stock settlers to
commence a trade wherever an opportunity offered. The settlement was
bona fide and genuine; men with means, energy and experience were
entering on it with great enthusiasm and high hopes of the future of the
new country. The wave of occupation passed on to the Burdekin River,
causing a great demand for sheep and cattle for the purpose of stocking
new country in the north and west. The requirements of this great
augmentation of the stock northwards led to the opening of Bowen or Port
Denison as a port of shipment for supplies. The discovery and opening of
Port Denison will be treated of elsewhere; its opening to commerce was a
boon to those who were occupying the country immediately at the rear of
the port. Many overlanders took advantage of the port by shearing or
lambing their sheep wherever a chance offered, and after obtaining
supplies for the road, were prepared to extend their search for new
country still further away. The Bowen River country is very interesting
and its scenery most picturesque; it has first-class grazing qualities,
small open plains, with patches of brigalow scrub scattered over
black-soil country. Sandstone ranges bound the creeks on the coast side,
whence they come down to the main stream. The river is a fine stream,
with long and deep reaches, in which are found alligators of large size
that have come up from the Burdekin River. Among the early settlers to
take up country was Mr. J. G. Macdonald, afterwards an early pioneer in
the Gulf country, though not a resident there. He took up, in
conjunction with others, a large area of country in the Bowen district,
afterwards known as Dalrymple, Inkermann, Strathbogie, and Ravenswood.
His residence at Adelaide Point was at one period the show place of the
North, where Mrs. Macdonald (after whom Adelaide Point was named)
dispensed hospitality with a kindly grace which won all hearts. Of all
this, nothing now remains but a memory. The house is gone; Mr. Macdonald
is dead, and the family dispersed. Carpentaria Downs was also taken up
by J. G. Macdonald, on the head of the Einasleigh River, for a long time
the outside settlement.
One of the early sheep stations held by Mr. Henning was located on the
Bowen River, while lower down a fine piece of country called Havilah was
held with sheep by Hillfling and Petersen--this was before 1862. Other
stations occupied somewhere about this time, or even earlier, were
Strathmore and Sonoma, held by Sellheim and Touissaint, with stock from
Canning Downs. These stations were a stage still further north, the
surrounding country being fine open forest land, very well grassed and
watered. These runs were the first taken up in the pastoral district
called Kennedy.
The main stock route northward followed the Bowen River settlements
crossing Pelican Creek, a tributary of the Bowen, through Sonoma run,
then to the Bogie, and across to the Burdekin River, following up that
stream to the Clarke and Lynd Rivers. Knowledge of a great pastoral
country away to the shores of the Gulf and extending far up the Burdekin
River was in the possession of many pioneer explorers whose names are
unrecorded, and the tide of advancing settlement followed on as fast as
was possible, stations being formed to the right and left of the main
routes, while others moved forward with a restless energy that nothing
would satisfy but the best country for their stock. One route turned on
the Bowen River to the west, and crossed the Suttor River above Mount
McConnel near the junction of the Cape River that came in from the
westward. This stock track soon became a main road owing to the traffic
which was carried on from the newly-opened port of Bowen or Port
Denison to the western settlements, even to Bowen Downs station. The
road led across the Leichhardt Range--another heavy piece for teams,
equal to Connor's Range, the sharp stones laming the bullocks, and
making the ascent a trial of patience and endurance to man and beast. A
station called Natal Downs was held by Kellet and Spry on the Cape
River, and by this route a great many of the early settlers in the far
west travelled their stock during 1864-65. The blacks were aggressive in
those days on Natal Downs, and were in the habit of cutting off the
shepherds at outstations; it was reported and believed that as many as
eighteen shepherds were killed at various outstations in the first few
years of settlement there.
Onward and westward went the movement of stock. The principal topic of
conversation turned always upon new country, the latest discoveries of
good grazing lands, and the men who were following with sheep and
cattle. The way out west in those first days led up the Cape River
through poor country, with a good deal of spinifex grass and patches of
poison bush. On the flat tableland dividing the Gulf waters from those
flowing towards the Thomson, were a series of large shallow swamps,
known as Billy Webb's Lake, a kind of halting place for stock. Between
this and the Flinders waters lies a tract of country nearly two hundred
miles in width, called the Desert--and the name is a well-deserved one.
The Desert consists of spinifex ridges and sandy sterile country,
covered in large patches with the desert poison shrub botanically known
as "Gastrolobium grandiflora." This dangerous plant grows to a height of
six to eight feet in separate bushes, and exhibits a bluish-silvery
sheen conspicuous afar off. It bears a scarlet blossom like a vetch, and
the leaf is indented at the outer end. Its poisonous nature was soon
proved by the first stock that attempted the passage. Many of the early
drovers lost large numbers of both cattle and sheep from its deadly
effects. In one camp, Halloran's and Alexander's, as many as 1,500 sheep
died in one night from eating it. All the stock passing through this
belt of desert country paid some tribute to its evil properties. This
poison plant is peculiar to the strip of desert country that extends
along the dividing watershed for many hundreds of miles, from the Alice
River reaching north as far as the Lynd.
The symptoms of poisoning from this plant are a kind of madness, causing
animals to rush about furiously, and then, becoming paralysed, to fall
helpless to the ground, and soon expire. There are but one or two
varieties of the plant in Queensland, though in Western Australia twelve
or fourteen varieties of Gastrolobium are found.
Besides the destructive poison plant, there is the evil-smelling
repellant spinifex growing through this strip of vile country, as well
as a low, close scrub, through all of which stock has to be got before
the open plain country is reached. A great scarcity of surface water,
and low stony ridges with heavy patches of red sand, are characteristic
of poison country. Glad indeed were the pioneers to leave it behind, and
with great satisfaction to stand on the rocky eminence that bounded it
on the western side, whence they looked down the open valley of the
Jardine, and beheld the downs and the grassy plains of the Flinders
spreading out before them for many miles. The sight came as a surprise
and relief after so much disagreeable travelling through the worst
portion of North Queensland, especially should a thunderstorm have
passed over the country recently and caused a spring in the herbage. The
Flinders River flowing to the west and north-west towards the Gulf of
Carpentaria, through most extensive plains and downs, traverses a
different geological formation to that which the pioneers crossed when
coming from the east coast. The edge of the great cretaceous formation
which forms the major portion of the western country, is here entered on
for the first time, and a new strange world seems to open up. A new
fauna and flora is evident on the very first entrance into the new
region; the birds are different and more numerous; galas, parrots, and
pigeons abound, and assure the newcomer that he has found a new pastoral
country, the grasses and herbage of which are more permanent, enduring
and nutritive than those he has hitherto met with. The downs, covered
with the Mitchell grass, with scarcely a bush or shrub to break the
monotony, stretch away as far as the eye can see; while the heavy timber
along the creeks and rivers indicates their course. A dreary monotony
prevails on the western rivers, the same everlasting plains, the same
great grassy waste of downs like an ocean without its interesting
motion. Far ahead can be seen the river timber winding through the brown
plains, so that the traveller can see a whole day's stage ahead. For
over a hundred of miles along the north-eastern, or right bank of the
Flinders River, is a tableland of basaltic formation, near which the
river winds its course; a dark fringe of rocks rises abruptly, broken
here and there by indentations through which flow creeks to join the
main channel. The cone of eruption for this vast overflow of lava is
said to be somewhere about Mount Sturgeon, to the eastward. The lava has
flowed over the original sandstone formation, and formed a level
tableland now broken and covered with black, porous blocks of lava of
every size. It is utilised for pasture purposes, notwithstanding its
forbidding aspect.
Some time after Rule and Lacy stocked the Aramac, Mr. Hodgson arrived on
it with sheep and took up and stocked Rodney Downs; he crossed the
spinifex country from the Belyando to the Alice River, and lost about
six thousand sheep on this track by poison bush, the Gastrolobium
grandiflora. Mr. Meredith arrived in May of the same year on the
Thomson, and took up and stocked Tower Hill station. During June of
this year the Thomson and Aramac Creek were in high flood; Rule and Lacy
were flooded out of their first camp, and removed to where Aramac
station now is. Some stockmen looking after the company's cattle on an
anabranch of Cornish Creek, were surrounded by water, and lived on
jerked beef for a month. About July the head station was shifted up to
Cornish Creek, taking the name of Bowen Downs with it, which name it has
since retained. In 1872 the cattle station was formed into a separate
establishment under the management of Mr. E. R. Edkins, who called it
Mount Cornish, in honor of the late E. B. Cornish, of Sydney. This year
wound up with a wet Christmas. Wages in those days were very high,
stockmen getting as much as 40s. a week, and cooks 30s.; any old horse
would bring L25. The year 1864 may be styled the year of Hegira or
flight of stock outwards to settle new country; they came from all
parts, and helped to fill the land everywhere with the beginning of
civilisation. A boom had set in for pastoral occupation; the reports of
recent explorations told of enormous tracts of grand open country
waiting for stock to utilise it, and each one was anxious to be the
first to secure some of it for his sheep or cattle. The head of the
Flinders River was occupied by a few settlers, and two lots of sheep
passed Bowen Downs, en route to the Flinders. They belonged to Kirk and
Sutherland, and Mr. J. L. Ranken, and came from Fort Cooper way, losing
heavily in crossing the range between Bully Creek and Lake Buchanan,
between eight and ten thousand sheep perishing through eating the desert
poison bush. They discovered what was the cause of such losses by
feeding some sheep on the suspected plant when they died with all the
symptoms of the victims in the desert track. The first white man known
to have been killed by the blacks on the Thomson was one of the
shepherds with Kirk and Sutherland's sheep. He was killed on Duck Pond
Creek, a tributary of Cornish Creek. After he was buried, the blacks dug
the body up at night and drove a stake through it, pinning it to the
ground. Kirk and Sutherland must have reached the Flinders about April,
and then occupied and stocked Marathon. Mr. J. L. Ranken occupied Afton
Downs, but was dried out the following year, and he lost a number of his
sheep in consequence of having to remove them lower down the Flinders.
In March of this year Mr. Meredith, of Tower Hill, formed a station on
the east side of Landsborough Creek, naming it Eversleigh, and stocked
it with cattle. In March also Bowen Downs sent cattle up the
Landsborough for the purpose of stocking the west side of the creek. The
men with the cattle had a very rough trip, as there was incessant rain,
and the country became one vast quagmire; all their rations and
ammunition were spoilt, and they had to live on young calf, "staggering
bob," as they called it. Mr. E. H. Butler was in charge, and after
leaving the cattle, started for home at the Mud Hut, when a thunderstorm
occurred that put out their fire and wet all their matches. The river
branches were flooded, and during the next two days they had nothing to
eat, and no fire, and were drenched to the skin by thunderstorms; their
pack-horse with all their blankets had knocked up, and they passed the
night without sleep, being wet and cold and hungry; next morning they
had to swim the main branch of the river, and then walk four miles to
the station, leaving behind one of their mates knocked up on an island
in the river. About September of this year (1864), Bowen Downs
despatched about fifteen hundred head of cattle in charge of Mr. Donald
McGlashen to the Gulf of Carpentaria for the purpose of taking up
country and stocking it. These cattle travelled up the Landsborough,
crossed the watershed on to Walker's Creek, followed it down to the
Flinders, and down that river to the turn off to Sackey's Lagoon, and
down the Alexandra to the Leichhardt, then across by Miller's Waterhole
to Beame's Brook, where the first station was formed called the Brook,
about sixteen miles above where Burketown now stands; they arrived there
before the end of 1864, and were the first stock to occupy the Gulf
country. When Mr. Landsborough left the Albert River on his trip in
search of Burke and Wills, he left a four hundred gallon tank there with
a lot of rations in it for the use of any distressed explorers or
others, and fastened the lid in such a way that he thought the blacks
would be unable to open it; but when Mr. McGlashen found the tank, he
discovered that the blacks had solved the problem, and the rations were
not there. When they were mustering these cattle before starting, the
boss, Mr. A. Scott Holmes, riding along with a stockman, met a
blackfellow whose gin had two half-caste children with her, aged about
nine and seven years; the blackfellow evidently wanted them to see the
children, as he kept pointing to them. Some years after this it was
reported that two half-castes were with the blacks out to the west of
the Thomson, but nothing more was heard of them.
It was during this year of 1864 that the first settlers found their way
to the Barcoo, although the fame of its pastures had been known years
before from the reports of Sir Thomas Mitchell and others explorers.
Among the first to settle there was J. T. Allen, who took up Enniskillen
in 1862, and who still resides there. Bell and Dutton took up Tambo
station, close to where the township of the same name sprang up
afterwards. Govett and Parsons took up Terrick, and Yaldwyn occupied
Ravensbourne, while Moor and Reid held Moorsland, now called Lorne.
Henry Edwards, from the Burnett, took up Malvern, which was sold the
same year to the Ellis Bros., who then occupied Portland.
In 1865, C. Lumley Hill, with Allen and Holberton, took up Isis Downs.
Then a pause ensued in occupying new runs, and progress was checked;
but after the passing of the Pastoral Leases Act of 1869, which gave
greater facilities for the occupation of new country, and more liberal
terms, many runs were occupied; among them, Mr. Hill held Westlands. A.
B. Buchanan took up Wellshot, while Welford took up Welford Downs, and
was killed by the blacks in 1872. Among the runs opened in those days
were Tocal, Bimerah, Mount Marlow, and Louisa Downs. The stock to occupy
all these runs in those early days mainly came from the Darling Downs
and Burnett, as in the first days of the Queensland Parliament an Act
was passed excluding New South Wales stock. Mr. Hill, in 1874, sold Isis
Downs, which was divided into three runs called Albilbah, Ruthven, and
Isis Downs. A great deal of the western plain country was occupied
during the years between 1865 and 1870, and a great deal of interest and
energy was exhibited in taking up and selling large blocks of fine
pastoral country. Sheep for stocking country rose to high prices, but
when the crisis occurred, there was a collapse in values, and many
abandoned a good deal of the country and disappeared from the scene.
Berkelman and Lambert discovered and settled Elizabeth Creek and
Listowel Downs. Mr. H. E. King was the first Land Commissioner, and
superintended the laying out of Tambo, the first town on the Barcoo. The
price of carriage for supplies in those day was L46 per ton. Cameron and
Crombie took up Barcaldine in 1864 with sheep from New England, and, in
conjunction with Mr. Allen, they also took up Home Creek, Enniskillen,
Minnie Downs, Vergemont, and Evesham. They brought their stock by the
Burnett, the Dawson, and Springsure, over the Expedition Range. There
was the usual trouble with the blacks after settling down. The natives
killed the shepherds and robbed the huts of rations and cooking utensils
that were very difficult to replace in those days. The Peak Downs was
first reported on by Dr. Leichhardt, but many years elapsed before
occupation set in. Among those who were prominent in the opening up and
early settlement of the fine tableland of Peak Downs, with its rich
soil, were De Satge and Milford, of Wolfang; Mackay, of Huntley; Gordon
Sandeman, of Gordon Downs; Hood, of Hood and Manning; and Lamb and
Black, of Yamala.
As the character of the new country became known, many other runs near
Hughenden were occupied by overlanders struggling along with stock,
among them was Fairlight, on the basalt ridge, held with sheep by Henry
Betts. Afton Downs, as has already been mentioned, was taken up with
sheep by Mr. Ranken, who deserted it later with a considerable loss of
stock owing to drought. Kirk and Sutherland, who had come from Suttor
Creek with sheep in 1863 were also dried out from Marathon, and suffered
great losses. Both of these runs now possess flowing streams in every
direction, formed by artesian bores. Notable among the early settlers
was the family of the Annings, father and sons, from Victoria. They held
Reedy Springs, on the head waters of the Flinders, Charlotte Plains, and
several other stations formed by their enterprise; the sons still occupy
the same country, and have grown gray in pioneering. Another Victorian
firm, Muirson, Jamieson and Thompson, occupied Mount Emu with sheep in
1862, after much travelling about in search of suitable country. Mrs.
Thompson, with a young family, accompanied her husband in those early
pioneering days of roughness and privation, and lived at Mount Emu for
many years, where her large family grew up, and her sons are now
occupying runs throughout the district. The hospitality of Mount Emu was
proverbial, and the refinement that prevailed in all the arrangements at
the head station gave additional value to the welcome that was extended
to all travellers. On the Burdekin country, the family of the Hanns,
father and sons, possessed themselves of Maryvale, a splendid piece of
country.
The farthest outstation north in 1860-61 was that of W. Stenhouse, on
the Clarke, a tributary of the Burdekin. Seventy miles nearer Bowen, was
the station of Allingham Bros., and thirty-five miles still nearer port
were located the Messrs Cunningham. Ernest Henry very early took up
Mount McConnel, at the junction of the Suttor and Selheim Rivers; this
is one of the old landmarks of Leichhardt when on his trip to Port
Essington in 1844-45. Stock were taken there from Baroondah, on the
Dawson, in 1860; and later on Hughenden station was settled with stock
taken from Mount McConnel. Hughenden is situated at the beginning of the
open plain country on the Flinders; it was one of the first stations
settled there in 1864. The present head station is on the exact spot
taken up so long ago, but is somewhat different in style to the original
slab hut on the ridge in which Mr. R. R. Morrissett and his hutkeeper,
old Jack Ryan, dwelt in 1864, when water for the use of the head station
was drawn from the junction of the creek with the river, that being the
only surface water within miles. Mr. Ernest Henry, a most energetic and
indefatigable pioneer carried on a good deal of prospecting on the
Cloncurry, and was the earliest discoverer of the mineral wealth of the
district. A company was formed in 1868 to work the copper lodes
discovered by Mr. Henry, but after expending large sums of money on
smelting works, etc., they were obliged to cease operations on account
of the expense of carriage and the low price of copper. H. Devilin was
one of the most active and venturesome pioneers in discovering and
making known to others the country on the Flinders. He opened the way
for several stockowners in that extensive district, though he himself
does not appear to have had much personal interest in any of the
speculations.
In opening up the highway through the head of the Flinders to the far
west, these pioneers were the forerunners of the great wave of
settlement that followed on immediately afterwards, notwithstanding the
deterrent features of the desert and the poison bush, through which they
had to pass with their stock. Up to 1864 the runs that had been stocked
on the Upper Flinders downs were Fairlight, by Betts and Oxley with
sheep, and Telemon station by Collins and Walpole. This last property is
now owned by J. L. Currie, of Melbourne, is mostly freehold, and with
the discovery of artesian water, and the introduction of fine wooled
sheep, has become a most valuable estate. It consists of open rolling
downs, with patches of gidya, a species of acacia. Marathon, on the
Upper Flinders, was taken up by R. H. Sheaffe, who for five years
represented the Burke district in the Legislative Assembly. The run was
sold by him to Kirk and Sutherland, who were in search of grass for
their sheep. Marathon is now owned by a Melbourne firm, and by means of
artesian wells, carries 200,000 sheep. After being dried out from Afton
Downs, John Ranken, a member of a very old colonial family in New South
Wales, eventually found his way to Barkly Tableland, where he settled
for a time. Afton Downs is situated on Walker's Creek, a tributary of
the Flinders on the western side, and is of the usual open rolling downs
formation. All these runs, as previously mentioned, were occupied before
the discovery of artesian springs, and therefore subject to being
periodically dried out. At the present day, with judicious expenditure
on artesian wells, and other improvements, this run annually shears
close on 100,000 sheep. Following down the Flinders through the great
plain country, the next station occupied was Richmond Downs, where a
struggling township named Richmond now stands; this was held in 1864 by
Bundock and Hays, with cattle from the Clarence River, in New South
Wales. They lost many on their way out by pleuro-pneumonia and the
desert poison bush already described. Opposite to Richmond Downs, across
the Flinders River, Kennedy and Macdonald took up about the same time a
run which they called Cambridge Downs, now a large sheep station. All
these runs on the Upper Flinders were first settled in 1864, and formed
an outpost of settlement by which other pioneers directed their course
lower down the river. During 1865 and the following year, another wave
of occupation flowed on past these outside stations, and the new
pioneers finding country further on, became in their turn a starting
point for others, and still the tide flowed outwards and westwards till
all available country was taken up. Those who came out during 1864 and
1865 had a serious difficulty to contend with in facing a drier season
than has since been experienced up to 1897. The pioneers with their
stock were compelled to follow the course of the river, as it was almost
certain death to go far to the west looking for water or country. All
the tributary creeks of the Flinders were dry, and those who ventured
out had soon to return to the main watercourse. The native dogs crowded
in on the Flinders in thousands, and the blacks themselves had also to
resort to it. During that trying season, none of the rivers ran in their
channels, and even most of the large waterholes in the bed of the
Flinders dried up, while stages of thirty or forty miles without water
were frequent. Notwithstanding these drawbacks to stockowners who were
on the search for some unfrequented nook to unharness on, the crowd
pressed on in the hope of better country ahead, some Canaan far beyond,
where hills were always green and water abundant. These men followed
each other in quick succession and took up runs on the Lower Flinders
and all over the Gulf country, wherever water could be found.
This settlement, carried out in those early years, was most extensive
and comprehensive, and during the time the western country was being
sought out and utilised the Burdekin was being stocked in every part.
One of the pioneers was Mr. Robert Stewart, of Southwick station, on
Fletcher's Creek, a stream of pure, clear water, flowing from the great
basaltic wall into the Burdekin. Reedy Lake station was stocked with
sheep by O'Reilly and Reeve, near Dalrymple, where the main route from
Bowen to the Gulf crossed the Burdekin River. Many other runs were taken
up on the Burdekin and towards the coast, and many soon changed hands,
the first settlers passing on to occupy country in the interior.
Several of these first-comers took up coast runs and stocked them with
sheep, believing they would thrive there. This was found to be a
mistake, and from Wide Bay to the north scarcely any sheep are now to be
met with on coastal runs. For a few years in some places they did well
enough, but they soon began to die from fluke, worms, and grass seeds,
and they were accordingly replaced by cattle. The sheep on being removed
to western pastures throve well, and soon recovered health. The seeds of
the spear grass (Andropogon contortus) were a terrible scourge--they are
finely barbed and intensely sharp and hard; once entered they pass right
through the skin of the sheep, even into the flesh, causing great
annoyance and leading to poverty and death. The soil in which this grass
thrives best is in the sandy strips along the banks of creeks. After
seeding, the heads bunch together, in tangled masses, and shower the
seeds on to sheep passing through. It is of use as a fodder grass only
when young and green, although cattle thrive fairly well upon it, and
its presence in any quantity at once determines whether the pasturage is
favourable to sheep or not. The cattle that were brought from Bowen
Downs to stock the runs taken up on the Gulf, were brought to their
northern starting point from Fort Cooper and further south during 1860
by N. Buchanan and W. Landsborough, who were both very active and
enterprising in opening up new country. This splendid property (Bowen
Downs) was settled by the Landsborough River Company, held in shares by
Messrs. N. Buchanan, W. Landsborough, Cornish, and W. Glen Walker, with
Messrs. Morehead and Young, of Sydney. The first four went out of the
company shortly afterwards, and Mr. Cornish, after visiting the Gulf
country, fell a victim to maladies contracted during the journey. Mount
Cornish was known in the early days as the Mud Hut. Mr. E. R. Edkins,
who has now been the manager for many years, was among the very early
drovers of stock to the Gulf. He left the Murray in 1861, and started
from the Gil-gil in January, 1862, passed Rockhampton, took in charge
Mr. R. Stewart's cattle, and brought them to Fletcher's Creek, now
Southwick, on the Lower Burdekin, and reached Maryvale in September of
that year. He then returned to the Murray, and brought out another lot
of cattle, passing Bowen in April, 1864. Here the cattle were placed in
quarantine. After being inoculated for pleuro, they travelled on to
Mount Emu, in September, 1864. James Gibson also took up a run on
Junction Creek, also Wanda Vale and Cargoon stations.
Among the settlers who were first in the new country on the Flinders
were Messrs. Little and Hetzer, who took up a run called Uralla, near
the junction of the Saxby and Flinders Rivers. Their stock consisting of
cattle and sheep came by Bowen Downs to the head of the Flinders, and
then followed the usual route. The blacks made some trouble at the
station and several lives were sacrificed. Others of the pioneers to try
their fortune in the general rush for new country were the Earle
Brothers, who had a station near Bowen; one of them, Mr. Thomas Earle,
took up country on Spear Creek, the head of the Norman River, in 1865,
and called the station Iffley. The season was so uncommonly dry, that
permanent water was the chief attraction, and the splendid waterhole at
Iffley, more than two miles long, and very deep, decided the Earles to
fix themselves there with their cattle and drays. There was at the time
a vast extent of country open for settlement; the terms were fairly
liberal, and the prospects good for those in search of new runs. The
settlers were like a great advancing army, confident in their numbers
and strength; and so they advanced into the unknown land, and left the
rest to fortune. They came from all the settled parts of Australia; that
was what induced Mr. H. F. Smith, of Barnes and Smith, to bring cattle
from Lyndhurst and take up a run on the Lower Flinders, called Tempe
Downs, on L Creek, so called from a tree marked L, one of Leichhardt's
marked trees when on his expedition to Port Essington, 1844-5. In 1865
James Kennedy took stock from Cambridge Downs, and held a fine run on
the Upper Leichhardt River, calling it Pentland Downs. In the same year,
James Cassidy occupied country lower down on the same river with sheep.
One of the pioneers who went through much personal privation and
hardship in the general forward march to discover new country, was Mr.
Reginald Halloran, associated with his brother-in-law, Mr. Robert
Alexander, of Proston, on the Burnett. They suffered heavy losses among
the sheep while going through the desert, from the poison plant, and
also from want of water. With the party was a young fellow named Briggs,
who was killed by the blacks on Skeleton Creek before reaching Hughenden
while a detachment of the party was camped there. The remnant of the
stock that survived the trip were placed on a piece of country on the
Lower Flinders, which they named Home Creek, but which was soon deserted
by this firm, though held as a station years afterwards. Mr. Halloran
was a man conspicuous for his utter disregard of personal comfort; he
would start on a ride of a hundred miles without rations or blanket,
trusting to the chapter of accidents for food, and to his saddle cloth
for covering for the night, and he was always welcome at any camp owing
to his geniality and fund of humour. The young fellow, Briggs, who met
with an untimely death, had arrived at the advance camp only the night
before for rations, and while alone in the tent next morning, the other
man being absent horse-hunting, a party of blacks visited the camp. The
white man showed fight, breaking a gun over the head of one of the
blacks, but was soon killed, and when the horse-hunter returned, he
found Briggs dead and the camp looted.
A place called Sorghum Downs, on the Lower Cloncurry, now part of
Conobie, was claimed by an old colonist and pioneer named Murdoch
Campbell; he and his wife (a Devonshire woman), had camped on the Bowen
River in 1863, but it was a long time before they found their way out so
far west. Mrs. Campbell's hospitality and kindness to all travellers was
one of the pleasant remembrances of those early hard times. Campbell
died in 1867, and Mrs. Campbell ultimately went to New Zealand, where
she had friends. A small firm of two men, Anderson and Trimble,
successful diggers from the Snowy River, in New South Wales, joined the
rest of the pushing crowd, and held a good run on the Saxby River with
sheep.
Still the tide of occupation flowed on, and when all the available
watered runs around the Gulf were occupied in 1865 and the following
year, those remaining unsatisfied, marched on, restless as the surges
that beat on the shore. Several of those in charge of stock travelled up
the Gregory River southwards, and out far away on to Barkly Tableland,
discovered by Mr. W. Landsborough. These were among the first to make
known the capabilities of this splendid district. The Stieglitz Brothers
held country far away to the south on the Herbert River, called now the
Georgina, having passed through all the Flinders and Gulf country
unrewarded.
Gregg and Nash, with sheep for the Messrs. J. and E. Brown, of
Newcastle, followed on the far-away track to the inland Never-Never,
Mrs. Gregg and her daughter accompanying the party in all their
wanderings. The attention and hospitality of this lady to all travellers
was as conspicuous as it was highly prized, and it will not be easily
forgotten. Several other pioneers occupied runs on the Barkly
tablelands, which was recognised as some of the finest pastoral land in
Queensland. In after years, when this country came to be restocked by a
new generation from the south, after being deserted and forsaken by the
original pioneers, the new settlers were surprised to find evidences of
a previous occupation. Where the early settlers had come from, where
they had gone to, and who they were, were matters of curiosity; sheets
of galvanised iron they well knew did not grow like the gidya trees,
neither were old sheepyards (built of basaltic stones) the work of
blacks. But who those early pioneers were, and what their fate, was
utterly unknown, and caused much speculation.
All the country bordering on the Gulf suitable for grazing purposes was
portioned out and occupied between the years 1864 and 1868. Though in
most cases the number of stock on each run was small, the runs were
numerous, and most of the owners were resident. It was recognised that a
great future was in store for this vast new territory just opening up to
enterprise and capital. The Plains of Promise, named by one of the early
navigators (Captain Stokes, of the "Beagle," in 1842), had been much
talked of for years, but when they were stocked, the distant fields
lost much of their interest. The fine rivers flowing into the Gulf of
Carpentaria, through hundreds of miles of open plains and rolling downs,
covered with permanent and valuable pasturage, gave to the early
settlers good reasons for believing they were the pioneers in opening up
a grand and wealth-producing territory.
Stations were formed, stock brought out, improvements made, and the way
opened for permanent occupation. The high hopes entertained seemed
likely to be realised, until a change came over the aspect of things--a
change brought about by influences far removed from the local scene, and
in which the settlers had no voice--a change in which no amount of
energy or sacrifice on their part could avail aught. The days of
commercial panic set in, culminating in the crisis of 1868-69, the march
of settlement was instantly checked, and the outward flow of
civilisation turned backwards. The financial crisis was felt all over
the mercantile world; banks of old standing collapsed, and low prices
for wool and stock, and all station produce, brought the pastoral
industry to a low ebb.
In consequence of these monetary disturbances, agents declined to find
money to carry on places so far distant as the Gulf stations--even the
little required for current expenses. All credit was stopped, and
supplies also, and as the newly-formed stations could not be made
self-supporting in the absence of local markets, the stock had to be
abandoned or removed. The tide began to ebb at a greater rate than it
had risen; some of the stock were sent south, while the rest were boiled
down, scarcely clearing expenses in either case; the improvements were
abandoned as well as the runs. The sheep came in from Barkly Tableland,
the Gregory, and the Leichhardt, and by the year 1871, there were but
few runs occupied. The great flood of 1869-70 helped to fill the cup of
misfortune for the Gulf residents; no such flood was ever dreamt of, or
has ever been seen since; it rained all January, February, and most of
March, and the rivers covered all the plain country, though the loss of
stock was small. A few runs on the Flinders and Cloncurry were still
kept in occupation, but they were not many, and these only struggled
along, hoping for better times. No value was attached to runs or stock
in any of the Gulf country then, as runs could be obtained much nearer
settlement for next to nothing, many being thrown up through the general
depression. It seemed as if the bottom had fallen out of the pastoral
industry, and hope had gone, but relief came sooner than was expected.
The Etheridge goldfield was opened, and served to employ a good deal of
the floating population. This field is situated to the east of Normanton
on the Delany and Etheridge Rivers, about 250 miles towards the east
coast. The discovery of auriferous reefs there, as well as some
alluvial gold, helped to keep trade alive, until the discovery of the
rich fields on the Palmer in 1873, when a great demand set in for
cattle. The financial depression lifted, the price of wool went up 100
per cent., and a demand again arose for runs to stock; the old ones were
all taken up, new country was applied for, and the voice of the man with
money was heard again in the land. In the years following, up to 1884,
much speculation was carried on in buying and selling runs and stock,
and country for occupation was as eagerly sought after as in the early
days.
Advantage was taken of the liberal provisions of the Pastoral Leases Act
of 1869, to take up unoccupied country, even if it was dry. Cattle were
selling on the Palmer diggings at L10 and L12 a head cash, and the
supply of bullocks was not equal to the demand, because the runs had
been so thinned by the exodus of stock south to clear expenses, that no
surplus was available to meet such a sudden demand as that caused by the
arrival of 20,000 diggers in the north. Then the tide flowed again, and
became the flood that helped to fill the country with work and life.
Cattle came out in large numbers, and passed on to occupy country in the
northern territory of South Australia, and even in Western Australia. As
many as 30,000 head passed over the border in one year at Burketown, for
the purpose of stocking country around Port Darwin.
For several years travelling stock went out to the far north-west, and
all had to pass through the Gulf country. The route followed from the
borders of Queensland was by the track that Leichhardt took on his
journey to Port Essington, between the tableland and salt water,
crossing the Macarthur, Roper, Calvert, and other rivers. Stations were
occupied on the Orde and Victoria Rivers on the Cambridge Gulf side with
stock from North Queensland. In those districts some very fine open
downs country had recently been discovered. Fisher and Lyons had 20,000
head of cattle sent out to their country in the north-west. Osman and
Panton also had large numbers of cattle from Queensland. Dr. Brown is
reported to have expended L100,000 is sending sheep and cattle from the
Adelaide side to the northern territory. The stocking of this far away
country was extremely expensive owing to the distance the cattle had to
travel, and the unusually high percentage of losses on the way. Some of
the stock were two years on the road, and a new disease called red water
attacked them when passing the Roper River. This disease is supposed to
be due to cattle ticks (Ixodes Bovis), and has since carried disaster
into many herds in Queensland. The average cost of some of the cattle
when arrived on their country was equal to L7 a head, in consequence of
losses and expenses. The Gordon Brothers were among the early drovers to
take stock over the borders to West Australia, and they made several
trips. The Duracks are another family of pioneer settlers in the
northern territory, and held extensive possessions. The country
bordering the rivers that flow into the Cambridge Gulf was reported to
be of a superior description and of a fattening nature. Though much of
the country in the northern territory was reckoned of an inferior
description for grazing, the encouraging terms of leasing offered by the
South Australian Government induced many to venture on the hazardous
undertaking. The markets opened up by the goldfields of Port Darwin
repaid some of their enterprise. Bullocks were sold at from L17 to L20
cash for butchering purposes. Eventually a shipping trade in cattle was
opened up with Singapore from Port Darwin; a company built special
steamers for carrying stock and passengers to the northern ports. The
results have proved satisfactory, as the s.s. "Darwin" lately (1897)
took a cargo of 190 head of fat bullocks on board, this being her
forty-second trip.
The Cape York Peninsula, within which was found the rich Palmer
diggings, came in for a share of settlement between 1875 and 1880. The
first of the early pioneers to take up a cattle run on the Mitchell
River was Mr. A. C. Grant, now of Messrs. B. D. Morehead and Co. He left
the Bowen River with three hundred fat cattle from Havilah station for
Messrs. Skene and Henderson, and took up Wrotham Park in 1873, situated
between the Mitchell and Walsh Rivers, on Elizabeth Creek, 120 miles
N.N.E. from Georgetown, a nice open piece of country, consisting of
black soil flats and ridges. The cattle he took up realised L11 5s. per
head cash all round; beef was then selling on the field at 1s. per lb.
Mr. Patrick Callaghan held a few blocks of country along the Mitchell
River, chiefly as a depot for bullocks for sale on the various diggings,
as he became a large buyer of cattle from the local market in
conjunction with F. Leslie, J. Edwards, and J. Duff. The transactions
and profits of this enterprising firm were on a very large scale, one
partner travelling outside buying cattle, another superintending the
supply to local butchers, and the other two attending to the gold
buying, slaughtering, and financial business of the concern. The next to
take up country for pastoral purposes on the Mitchell water was Edward
Palmer (the author of these notes), who, in conjunction with John
Stevenson and Walter Reid, took up and stocked Gamboola in 1879 with
cattle from Ravenswood and Mount McConnel runs. The extent of good
pasture land on the Mitchell waters, or anywhere on the Peninsula,
further north, is limited. When the Palmer goldfield was opened the
farthest outstation stocked on the overland route was Mount Surprise, on
Junction Creek, held by the Firths, and this was over 200 miles from the
diggings by the nearest practicable road. The road was opened by drovers
taking stock, and carriers and miners passing northwards with their
faces set direct to the wonderful land of gold. The road crossed the
Tate, the Walsh, and the Mitchell Rivers, and then followed up the
Palmer River through some of the roughest country in North Queensland.
When Cooktown was opened as a port for the diggings, the overland route
was abandoned for dray traffic, and droving stock alone used it. The
consumption of beef on the field for several years demanded an average
annual supply of from 15,000 to 20,000 head, most of the cattle
realising from L7 to L10 each. The stock came from coastal runs mostly,
Dotswood and the Burdekin country supplying much of it, Bowen Downs and
Aramac[E] also sending in many large mobs. Very few breeding cattle were
brought out, but some small runs towards Cooktown were occupied with
cattle, the country consisting of open timbered ridges of only a
second-class description, but fairly well watered. The Mitchell River
was named by Dr. Leichhardt in memory of another explorer, Sir Thomas
Mitchell. Leichhardt saw this river where it junctioned with the Lynd,
and one of his old camps is still to be seen on the Lynd a little above
this junction. It is really a beautiful river, with a clear running
stream all the year round, and some deep reaches of still water; the
banks are covered with scrubs of pencil cedar and a great variety of
hanging vines and thick shrubs. The principal source of the river is
near Port Douglas on the east coast, within six miles of the township,
on the top of the range, from whence the water flows north-west, and
continues its course to the Gulf of Carpentaria, where it empties itself
in latitude 15 deg. 10 sec. In its course, it receives the waters of the
Walsh, Lynd, and Palmer Rivers, as well as the Hodgkinson, and becomes a
mighty stream. Indeed it is one of the most picturesque and interesting
rivers in Queensland. The upper parts of this stream were explored by J.
V. Mulligan and his party of prospectors in 1875. Leichhardt followed it
below the junction of the Lynd when on his trip to Port Essington,
before leaving it to cross to the Gulf country. The Mitchell River
country is famous for its native game; the scrubs abound with wallaby,
turkeys, and pigeons; the river and lagoons teem with fish of every
variety, and waterfowl cover the shallow waters where the alligators are
unable to reach them. The open country surrounding has the large
kangaroo and the common bustard (plain turkey) in abundance. The
country fattens stock, and is well watered. It consists of alluvial
soil and open ridges of a sandy nature, where the grass is coarse and is
covered with a low mimosa scrub.
[Footnote E: The word "Aramac" was coined by the late Mr. W.
Landsborough, the well-known explorer, and is an euphonious abbreviation
of the name of the late Sir Robert Ramsey Mackenzie, who was Colonial
Secretary in the first Macalister Ministry (1866) and Colonial Treasurer
and Premier 1867-8. Mr. Landsborough was fond of coining words by
joining the first syllable of one name to the first syllable of another
name--thus the run known as "Willandspey," on Vine Creek, near Mount
Hope, just below the junction of the Belyando and Suttor Rivers, is a
combination of the names of William Landsborough and Peyton, the first
lessee of the run.]
Among the many other disabilities that cattle were subject to in this
new country was a poison bush or tree, growing along the banks of creeks
and rivers, called the peach tree (Cannabis sp.) It is said to have been
the cause of many deaths, for hundreds of cattle that were unused to the
plant died along the bends of the rivers, though young stock bred in the
country appeared to be immune to its evil effects. Notwithstanding all
these drawbacks and discouragements, runs were taken up on the Archer
and other rivers in the Peninsula as far as Cape York, and the rivers
flowing into Princess Charlotte's Bay were all occupied by the pioneers
of settlement in face of all opposition and discouragement.