Barrow Creek, Northern Territory
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Barrow Creek ( ) is a small town with a roadhouse/hotel in the Northern territory of Australia with a population of 11, that is located about 280 km north of Alice Springs on the Stuart Highway towards Tennant Creek. A number of mining groups have been exploring possible mining ventures at Barrow Creek, but at present no residents are involved in mining.
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[edit] History
The area is the traditional home of the Kaytetye Aboriginal people, who have lived in this area for up to 40,000 years.
The arrival of Europeans in the latter part of the nineteenth century saw a period of much hardship and bloodshed for the Kaytetye [1].
[edit] White Settlement
John McDouall Stuart named this site in 1860 after John Henry Barrow, a preacher, journalist and politician who was born in England in 1817 and migrated to South Australia in 1853. At the time of the creation of the town he was Treasurer of South Australia. The naming of the town after him seemed to have little impact on its fortunes as the government was defeated in 1873.
[edit] Barrow Creek Telegraph Station/Repeater Station
Like Alice Springs the town came into existence with the arrival of the Overland Telegraph in 1872. Barrow Creek was chosen as a site for a repeater station by John Ross in September 1871 and the station as it stands today was officially opened on 16 August 1872 by Charles Todd as part of the morse repeater network. It was one of 15 such repeater stations on a network traversing Australia and linking Australia to Europe, providing essential communication services. The Telegraph Station has been preserved and is now a monument to the troubles which beset the early days of the Territory.
[edit] World War II
During World War II the site was used by the Australian Army as a staging camp for convoys of troops and supplies.
[edit] Barrow Creek population dwindle
Barrow Creek could not grow because of the water. It has always had a problem of ground water supplies both in quantity and quality. It was mentioned in the 1870s and just 20 years after the Telegraph Station was built it appeared that they were going to shift Barrow Creek further north about another 40 kilometres towards the crossing at Taylor Creek because there's good ground water up there. To this day there remains a bore up there which is called New Barrow Bore. The only good water is rainwater and there's not a great deal of that.
[edit] Crime in or around Barrow Creek
[edit] 1870 killing of John Milner by Aborigines
During 1870 some 3000 sheep from the Lake Hope Area in South Australia were overlanded to the Northern Territory, for the men working on the line at Roper River, by Ralph and John Milner. Near Wauchop Creek they lost 900 sheep who had eaten poisonous herbage. John Milner was killed by the Aborigines and Ralph arrived at the Roper River with only 1000 sheep.
[edit] 1874 killing of two white men by Aborigines and subsequent "revenge" by Samuel Gason
In February 1874 Mounted Constable Samuel Gason arrived at Barrow Creek and a police station was also opened. Eight days later a group of Kaytetye men attacked the station resulting in the death of two white men and the wounding of Ernest Flint.
Some believe the attack was retaliation for the white men's treatment of Kaytetye women. Others say it occurred because the white men had fenced off a major waterhole and refused the Kaytetye access to water and rations during a time of drought. Indeed, it is probable that both these issues were grievances for the Kaytetye.
On 22 February Gason cabled to Adelaide, "This Station has been attacked by natives at 8. Stapleton has been mortally wounded, one of the men, named John Franks, just died from wounds. Civilised Native Boy has had three spear wounds. Mr Flint, assistant operator one spear wound in leg, not serious. Full particulars in morning". In Adelaide Dr William Gosse advised treatment for the wounded which was telegraphed back to Barrow Creek.
Samuel Gason later mounted a large police hunt against the Aborigines resulting in the slaughter of up to ninety men, women and children. [2] No prisoners were taken.
See also: List of massacres of indigenous Australians
[edit] 1878 killing of John Franks and James L Stapleton by Aborigines
In 1873, 5000 sheep were overlanded from Adelaide by Alfred Giles for distribution among the Telegraph Stations along the line. During 1877 and 1878 Alfred Giles and Arthur Giles overlanded stock for Dr W.J. Browne to the Katherine River. On the 1878 journey Frank Withall, a joung Englishman, was included on the suggestion of Browne to gather some colonial experience. Alfred Giles later started Springvale, Delamere and the Newcastle Waters runs.
Two men, John Franks and James L Stapleton were killed in an attack on the telegraph station by local Aborigines.
[edit] 1928 Coniston Massacre
Main article: Coniston massacre
Barrow Creek was central to the last major Aboriginal massacre in the Northern Territory. In the 1920s Mounted Constable William George Murray was in charge of the local Police Station and also the Chief Protector of Aborigines in the area. When an old dingo trapper, Fred Brooks, was killed by Aborigines on Coniston Station, Murray led a posse which killed an estimated 70 aborigines in a series of bloody reprisals. When Murray was called to Darwin to explain his actions he was greeted like a conquering hero. When asked why he had taken no prisoners he expressed the racist attitudes which prevailed in the territory at the time by telling the Darwin court "What use is a wounded black feller a hundred miles from civilization?" He was totally exonerated of all charges.
[edit] 2001 Peter Falconio disappearance
Main article: Peter Falconio disappearance
Barrow Creek has recently become famous for being the closest town to the location of where Peter Falconio was murdered by Bradley John Murdoch, and Joanne Lees was abducted. The actual location of the crime was a few kilometres away from Barrow Creek, and it was not in the town itself.
[edit] Tourist spots at Barrow Creek
[edit] The Graves
The graves are marked by a wall around the graves and headstones. They are well looked after. In a small graveyard at the front are remains of two telegraph station workers killed in a surprise attack by aboriginals last century.
[edit] The Pub
The old pub was built in 1926 by Joe Kilgariff, uncle of Northern Territorian senator Bernie Kilgariff, and it still has the original old bar, underground cellar, and tin ceilings. There's demountable accommodation outside and rooms inside and a caravan park. On the wall in the kitchen of the building is a cartoon of two Australian comic icons, Bluey and Curley, drawn by the artist Chic Young when he passed through during World War II. The hotel is a popular stop for travellers along the highway and contains a tremendous collection of memorabilia and items of interest which have been gathered over the years.
[edit] The Telegraph Station
For many years the Telegraph Station was the home of a linesman from Charters Towers who lived in the building and repaired breakdowns in the line from time to time. Now deceased, a corner of the hotel is devoted to his memory and his story is a fascinating one
[edit] Current
[edit] Population
The population of Barrow Creek at the moment is 11 people all of whom work together at the roadhouse. There's two Aboriginal communities - the Tara community which is 12 km northeast and Pmatajunata down at Stirling Station which is about 35 km from Barrow Creek. There are approx 120 people down there and 80 people at Tara.
[edit] Mining
- On 19 March 2001 Glengarry Resources NL were issued with an exploration licence for Tantalite in Barrow Creek [3]
- On 17 November 2003 Barrow Creek Central Land Council agreed to allow Newmont Gold Exploration Pty Ltd and Normandy NFM Limited to use an area North-West of Barrow Creek for exploration and mining for a period of 20 years. [4]
- On 26 May 2005 BHP Billiton commenced drilling at Barrow Creek to explore and develop nickel sulphide deposits. [5]
[edit] External links
- Driving along the Stuart Highway - includes a snippet on Barrow Creek
- Walkabout
- AU info
- Barkly Tourism
- Sydney Morning Herald Travel
- Wilkins Tourist Maps
- Repeater Stations along the Stuart Highway
