Site NameHarris Lagoon
This massacre is part of a group of massacres
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Place NameYalwarra Lagoon
Language Group, Nation or PeopleYanyuwa
Present State/TerritoryNT
Colony/State/Territory at the timeSA
Police DistrictNo police district at that time.
Latitude-14.733
Longitude134.699
DateBetween 18 Aug 1875 and 20 Aug 1875
Attack TimeDay
VictimsAboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
Victim Descriptions
Victims Killed40
Victims Killed Notes
AttackersColonists
Attacker DescriptionsMounted Police
Attackers Killed0
Attackers Killed Notes
TransportFoot
MotiveReprisal
Weapons UsedPistol(s), Rifle(s)
NarrativeSee also Mt McMinn, Crescent Lagoon, Calder Range and Mole Hill massacres. A range of sources (see below) provide details of this massacre. Following the killing of Charles Johnston by Mangarrayi warriors at Roper Bar on 29 June 1875, two reprisal parties were formed and commenced a six-week campaign of dispersing Aboriginal groups in the region. On 18 August a party departed Roper Bar on foot and attacked an Aboriginal camp at Harris Lagoon, shot people at will and returned to Roper Bar on 20 August. As Roberts noted (fn 13, 2009, np), 'A member of the official party wrote later that the overlanders "dispersed them thoroughly…[and] fully avenged Johnston's death"'. And 'After this, the official party set to work on slaughtering Aboriginals on both sides of the river, upstream from Roper Bar. On 20 August, police reinforcements arrived on a government boat from Darwin and the slaughter continued downstream from the Bar, as far as the river mouth, notwithstanding that those tribes had nothing to do with Johnston's murder. The random kills extended along a 200 kilometer stretch that ran both north and south of the river…The total death toll is impossible to guess, but it was likely in excess of 150 or 200'. Later, in December, 1875 an Aboriginal man, Ural, was tried for the murder of C.H. Johnston and C. Daer, but was not recognised by C.T. Rickards who had escaped the attack at Roper Bar in which Johnston was killed. Ural was released (NTTG December 25, 1875, p 2).
SourcesNTTG September 18, 1875, p 2 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3144448; NTTG December 4, 1875, p 2 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3144612; NTTG December 25, 1875, p 2 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3144666; Wilson, 2000, pp 221-222; Roberts, 2005, p 140; Toohey, Roper River Police Station Heritage Assessment Report, 2015, pp 9-11; Roper Bar Land Claim Report, 1982, p 3; Austin, 1992, pp 15-16. (Sources PDF)
Corroboration Rating***