| Site Name | Minderoo, Pilbara |
| Aboriginal Place Name | |
| Language Group | Thalanyji |
| Present State/Territory | WA |
| Colony/State/Territory at the time | WA |
| Police District | Roebourne - Pilbara region |
| Latitude | -21.996 |
| Longitude | 115.042 |
| Date | Between 6 Jul 1869 and 31 Jul 1869 |
| Attack Time | |
| Victims | Aboriginal People |
| Victim Descriptions | |
| Victims Killed | 20 |
| Victims Killed Notes | 20-50 |
| Attackers | Colonists |
| Attacker Descriptions | Settler(s) |
| Attackers Killed | 0 |
| Attackers Killed Notes | |
| Transport | |
| Motive | Reprisal |
| Weapons Used | Pistol(s), Winchester(s) |
| Narrative | After Shepherd William Griffiths was speared by Thalanyji people and his body ‘obliterated’ near the Ashburton River, Farquar McRae organised a small punitive party to join five other white men (led by Edward Timothy 'E T' Hooley, assisted by magistrate Robert Sholl, W. Shenton, T.R. Thatcher, E.J. Kelsh) and a ‘native assistant’ (Ben). Between 10 July and 15 July they battled several groups, the last being at the junction of the Henry and Ashburton Rivers (Forrest 1996, p 17). This poem describing the incidents lay in a Forrest Brothers safe for over sixty years before being published in full.
The Battle of Minderoo by ‘Tien Tsin’, August, 1869. [Poem likely written by Richard Thatcher who was on the punitive expedition] ‘Twas Sabbath morn the rising sun had not appeared in view But day contested with the night at beauteous Minderoo The cork bark shed a sweet perfume the wild Ashburton pea Made sweeter still the morning air and birds sang merrily What means this band of armed men who ride on fiery steeds? What mission brings them thus abroad that so much caution needs No pannicans [sic] nor hobbled chains upon their saddles tied They seem to hold their very breath as o’er the plain they ride How slowly and how silently they’re riding neck and neck The impatient neighing of a steed it’s rider soon doth check The sun shows in the Eastern sky illumining the scene And lighting up the thick snake bush with leaves of heavy green The startled emu o’er the plain is quickly lost to view And from the gums with noisy screams there flies the cockatoo A smile comes oe’r [sic] the leaders face a smile that seems to show He feels that joy a warrior feels who meets a worthy foe For there some hundred yards ahead the dimly burning fire Betrays the presence of the foes to meet whom he desires— A foe both treacherous and cruel with cunning like to theirs He means now to surround their camp and take them unawares— They see the troop and starting up with wild discordant cries They yell like fiends and on the whites intimidation try They little know that leader bold who fought in many a field With stern commanding voice he cries on every man to yield They answer with their fighting spears most cruelly barbed in rows With cooeys and with club they try to disconcert their foes Now Hooley had that barbed spear but one inch nearer been But Heaven above—your wife and child you never more had seen Well shot bold Bob: that warrior his earthly course had run He’ll never throw another spear nor view the setting sun Bold trooper Vincent’s restive steed doth rear with all his force He only asks to fight on foot if one will hold his horse Now Ensign Willie’s mare doth try from off the field to bolt She kicks and rears but still Will lets them taste his navy colt McRae confronts the dusky foe upon his well trained steed He fears no spears alike defies the coyles’ whirling force An ugly smile upon his face most dangerous to see Descended evidently from a Scottish ancestry— His reins hang loosely on his arm his rifle grasped tight He sits just like one carved in stone and cooly takes a sight The leader of the savages the white man’s arms defies— Encouraging his followers with yells and shouts and cries His left hand grasped a painted shield his right his spears and rest To strike the horses of the foe he bids them do their best— But suddenly his shield is dropped his spears are scattered round With loud despairing cry of rage he drops upon the ground A bullet from McRaes good piece has gone right through his brain He never more will use that shield nor throw those spears again Hurrah: cries Thatcher with delight that shot was worth a crown Another warrior bites the dust the boldest of them down Their leader gone and falling fast for mercy then they pray And send the prettiest women out to plead with bold McRae That flinty hearted champion the damsels proudly eyes He heeds not their entreating looks nor cares about their sighs Send out the old men and the boys we only fight with men Throw down your arms unship your spears we’ll talk of quarter then They send out boys and aged men the nuncaberrys stay And fight like wolves or tigers till they’re vanquished by McRae And there they lie upon the plain a ghastly sight to view Their life blood stains the clayey soil of beauteous Minderoo— By murdering natives on that plain a lesson may be read Whoso sheddeth blood of man by man shall his be shed. (Western Mail, Feb 21, 1935) |
| Sources | Sholl to Colonial Secretary 12 June 1869, CSR 647-66 SROWA; Forrest 1996; Gifford 2018, p 89-94; Sunday Times, October 20, 1918, p 8 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/57996780; Birman, W 'Sholl, Robert John (1819–1886)', ADB, Vol 6, 1976; Western Mail, Feb 21, 1935 p 9 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/38398853 (Sources PDF) |
| Corroboration Rating | *** |
Colonial Frontier Massacres
in Australia, 1788-1930
