| Site Name | Mitchell River Anabranch This massacre is part of a group of massacres |
| Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Place Name | |
| Language Group, Nation or People | Kunjen / Kokomini |
| Present State/Territory | QLD |
| Colony/State/Territory at the time | QLD |
| Police District | Somerset |
| Latitude | -15.931 |
| Longitude | 142.056 |
| Date | 16 Dec 1864 |
| Attack Time | Day |
| Victims | Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People |
| Victim Descriptions | Warrior(s) |
| Victims Killed | 8 |
| Victims Killed Notes | 8 or 9 men |
| Attackers | Colonists |
| Attacker Descriptions | Explorer(s), Overlander(s), Stockmen/Drover(s) |
| Attackers Killed | 0 |
| Attackers Killed Notes | The attackers were the brothers F and A Jardine, being ahead of the rest of the party. |
| Transport | Horse |
| Motive | Opportunity |
| Weapons Used | Carbine(s) |
| Narrative | In December 1864, the brothers Frank and Alexander Jardine were leading a cattle droving expedition from Rockhampton to Somerset, Cape York, where their father was police magistrate. According to the brothers' account, 'Whilst they were engaged in marking a line for a crossing place for the cattle, they saw some blacks, and tried to avoid them, these however ran in the direction of the cattle, and brandishing their spears laughingly, defied the horsemen, beckoning them to come on. With this they complied, and turned them back over the creek, and then sat down awaiting the arrival of the cattle. They were not allowed to remain long in peace, for the natives, having left their gins on the other side, swam over the creek and tried to surround them. Being thus forced into a 'row,' the Brothers determined to let them have it, only regretting that some of the party were not with them, so as to make the lesson a more severe one. The assailants spread out in a circle to try and surround them, but seeing eight or nine of their companions drop, made them think better of it, and they were finally hunted back again across the river, leaving their friends behind them. The firing was heard by the cattle party, but before they could come up, the fray was over.' F .J. Byerley, the editor of the Jardine Brothers' journals, noted that, 'In this case, as in all others, the collision was forced on the explorers, who, as a rule, always avoided making use of their superior arms' (Byerley, 1867, np). |
| Sources | Byerley, FJ, 1867. Gutenberg online, np. https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks/e00026.html (Sources PDF) |
| Corroboration Rating | * |
Colonial Frontier Massacres
in Australia, 1788-1930
