| Site Name | Mount McMinn This massacre is part of a group of massacres |
| Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Place Name | Yutpundji-Djindiwirritj |
| Language Group, Nation or People | Mangarayi |
| Present State/Territory | NT |
| Colony/State/Territory at the time | SA |
| Police District | No police district at that time. |
| Latitude | -14.699 |
| Longitude | 134.316 |
| Date | 24 Jul 1875 |
| Attack Time | Day |
| Victims | Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People |
| Victim Descriptions | Aboriginal |
| Victims Killed | 40 |
| Victims Killed Notes | |
| Attackers | Colonists |
| Attacker Descriptions | Overlander(s) |
| Attackers Killed | 0 |
| Attackers Killed Notes | Charles Henry Johnston and Abram Daer |
| Transport | Horse |
| Motive | Reprisal |
| Weapons Used | Revolver(s), Rifle(s) |
| Narrative | See also Crescent Lagoon, Harris Lagoon, Calder's Range and Mole Hill massacres. A range of sources (see below) detail this series of massacres. On 29 June 1875, Charles Henry Johnston, Abram Daer and Charles Rickards from the Daly River Telegraph station were attacked by Mangarrayi men at Roper Bar. Johnson died the next day. Too weak to bury Johnston, Daer and Rickards wrapped the body in canvas and oilskin and placed it together with a note under the foot of a tree and set off for Daly River Telegraph station, which they reached on 13 July. Daer died from his wounds on 7 August. While punitive expeditions were being organised to avenge the deaths, an overlanding party to Queensland, led by George De Lautour and William Batten, arrived at Roper Bar on 19 July and found Daer's note and Johnston's body and immediately set off in search of the Mangarrayi people. They left their own note for the police party dated 24 July 1875 saying they had 'found natives mustered strongly at Mount McMinn', that they 'dispersed them and did their best to avenge Johnston's death' (telegram from JAG Little cited in NTTG, September 18, 1875, p 2). The police parties arrived at Roper Bar on 2 August 1875, found the notes from Daer and the overlanding party and buried Johnson's remains on 3 August 1875 ('Roper River Expedition' NTTG, September 18, 1875, p 2). A later article reported the 'hunting of natives' in the area, 'Whilst great regret has been felt at the loss of valuable lives like that of Mr. Johnston and Daer, not a little indignation has been expressed at the aimless nature of the Roper expedition and the indiscriminate "hunting" of the natives in the region. It is, of course, very desirable to strike terror into the hearts of the natives, in order to show them that the lives of the white men cannot be taken with impunity, but there ought to be a show of reason in the measure of vengeance dealt out to them.' (NTTG, 04 December, 1875). |
| Sources | Reid, 1990, p xi, pp 66-67; NTTG, July 17 1875, p 1 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3144292; NTTG August 14, 1875, p 1 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3144352; NTTG, September 18, 1875, p 2 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3144448; NTTG December 4 1875, p 2 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3144666; Wilson 2000, pp 221-222; Roper River Police Station Heritage Assessment Report 2015, pp 9-11; Toohey, Roper Bar Land Claim Report, 1982, p 3; Austin, 1992, pp 15-16; Roberts, 2005, pp 115-119. (Sources PDF) |
| Corroboration Rating | *** |
Colonial Frontier Massacres
in Australia, 1788-1930
