| Site Name | Wickham River |
| Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Place Name | Yarralin |
| Language Group, Nation or People | Ngarinman, Bilinara |
| Present State/Territory | NT |
| Colony/State/Territory at the time | SA |
| Police District | Gordon Creek |
| Latitude | -16.785 |
| Longitude | 130.352 |
| Date | Between 1 Aug 1894 and 30 Aug 1894 |
| Attack Time | Midday |
| Victims | Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People |
| Victim Descriptions | Warrior(s) |
| Victims Killed | 35 |
| Victims Killed Notes | |
| Attackers | Colonists |
| Attacker Descriptions | Police |
| Attackers Killed | 0 |
| Attackers Killed Notes | |
| Transport | Horse |
| Motive | Reprisal |
| Weapons Used | Martini-Henry Rifle(s) |
| Narrative | Mounted Constable William Willshire wrote in 1895 (p 43): 'Whilst tracking some natives who had been killing cattle on the Victoria Run in August 1894, we came upon them camped in a gorge off the north bank of the River Wickham. The war cry sounded through the tribe, and they picked up their spears and commenced climbing the precipitous sides. As there was no getting away the females and children crawled into rocky embrasures, and there they remained. When we had finished with the male portion, we brought the black gins and their offspring out from their rocky alcoves'.
Rose (1992, p 12) noted, quoting Lindsay Crawford, the first Manager of Victoria River Station in 1895: '…during the last ten years, in fact since the first white man settled here, we have held no communication with the natives at all, except with the rifle. They have never been allowed near this station or the outstations, being too treacherous and warlike'. |
| Sources | Willshire, 1895, p 43; Rose, 1992, p 12. (Sources PDF) |
| Corroboration Rating | *** |
