| Narrative | On October 8, 1845, William Britton and Thomas Henning, Cowper's shepherds, failed to return to Cowper's outstation. Over the next two weeks their mutilated bodies were found. William Dana and a detachment of Native Police were sent to "pacify" the area. On the afternoon of February 1, 1846, they were riding through a swampy bed of reeds between Cowper's and Campbell's stations when they encountered a group of 200 warriors. Dana said he tried to avoid them, but was pursued on to dry ground. Two of his horses and one man were speared. Dana ordered his men to wheel around and charge. During the melee the troopers fired "one hundred rounds of ball cartridge" before the attackers retreated. "I saw several dead bodies; there must have been a great many wounded", Dana reported. |
