| Site Name | Daly River and Mary River |
| Aboriginal Place Name | |
| Language Group | Woolwonga |
| Colony | SA |
| Present State/Territory | NT |
| Police District | Port Darwin |
| Latitude | -13.713 |
| Longitude | 130.687 |
| Date | 2 Sep 1884 |
| Attack Time | |
| Victims | Aboriginal People: Warriors |
| Victims Killed | 20 |
| Victims Killed Notes | 20-30, however some reports estimate it to be between 70-150. |
| Attackers | Colonisers: Mounted Police |
| Attackers Killed | 4 |
| Attackers Killed Notes | Miners John Landers, Henry Hauschildt & Johannes Noltenius and their cook Thomas Schollert. |
| Transport | Horse |
| Motive | Reprisal |
| Weapons Used | Spears |
| Narrative | On 2 September 1884 at Mt Hayward Copper Mine on the Daly River, John Landers, Henry Hauschildt and Johannes Noltenius were speared as they ran for safety. Back at camp, they found their cook, Thomas Schollert, dead. A reprisal operation was carried out by Mounted Constable George Montagu and took in Argument Flat and Marrakai Station along the Mary River. Montagu’s report documented 20-30 Aboriginal deaths, but other contemporary reports suggest between 70-150, and modern estimates are higher. Inspector Paul Foelsche also led a reprisal party. A third, civilian, party, known as the 'Hauschildt Rescue' party, was armed by the Government but not accompanied by any police and did not account for ammunition used. |
| Sources | Nettelbeck 2004: 19; Wilson 2000: 271; Morrison www.australianfrontierconflicts.com.au; Evening Journal , June 4 1885 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article198397078; SA Register, June 11 1885 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article44534459; Roberts 2009; North Australian, November 27 1885 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47995004; Markus 1974: 12-34; 'Report on the pursuit of the Daly River murderers', SAPP, No.170, 1885. (Sources PDF) |
| Corroboration Rating | *** |
