| Site Name | Battle Creek, Cloncurry |
| Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Place Name | |
| Language Group, Nation or People | Kalkadoon |
| Present State/Territory | QLD |
| Colony/State/Territory at the time | QLD |
| Police District | Cloncurry |
| Latitude | -19.728 |
| Longitude | 139.307 |
| Date | Between 30 Jul 1884 and 20 Aug 1884 |
| Attack Time | |
| Victims | Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People |
| Victim Descriptions | Aboriginal |
| Victims Killed | 30 |
| Victims Killed Notes | Graves of 18 Aboriginal people located. |
| Attackers | Colonists |
| Attacker Descriptions | Native Police, Settler(s) |
| Attackers Killed | 0 |
| Attackers Killed Notes | |
| Transport | Horse |
| Motive | Reprisal |
| Weapons Used | Snider(s), Hatchet(s) |
| Narrative | Following the killing of James Powell by Kalkadoon people, co-owner of Calton Hills station, at Mistake Creek, north of Cloncurry, in 1884, a detachment of seven native police under the command of Sub-Inspector Frederick Urquhart and assisted by Alexander Kennedy, co-owner of Calton Hills station, went in search of the alleged killers. They trapped a group in a gorge on Battle Creek on Calton Hills station and shot and killed at least 18 of them. It is not known whether they were men or included women and children (Bottoms, 2013, pp 164-165).
On August 21st 1884, Sub Inspector F. Urquhart reported to the Commissioner of Police that after receiving news of the murder of J.W. Powell on the 21st of July, '... on the 22nd I left with 6 troopers and 13 horses ...' The group also included 'Mr A. Kennedy the late Mr Powell's partner...' and a 'wounded blackboy who had escaped from Mr Powells camp when the attack was made' After locating Powell's body 'On the morning of the thirthieth 30th I [Urquhart] started on the tracks of the blacks and as they had driven the horses and cattle with them it was very easy easy to follow their trail although the country traversed was mountainous and extremely rough. We passed through ten 10 camps in all of which cattle had been killed and in some cases yards made to hold them - after travelling twenty miles we dropped into a deep gorge in Gunpowder Creek [near Battle Creek] and there detected the smoke of a camp fire curling upwards - An hour before sundown I had my troopers in ambush round the camp which was a very large one there being apparently upwards of one hundred and fifty blacks in it Trooper Billy acting on my orders summoned them to surrender in their own language but they resisted and as further hesitation would have involved the escape of the offenders and possibly the destruction of my little party I gave the order to fire and thirty 30 of the blacks were shot. Trooper Larry was knocked down by a black but beyond this I have no casualties to report - Many blacks escaped but my detachment was not strong enough to admit of my doing more...' He added that, 'Between the scene of the murder and the head of the [Wills?] I broke up and dispersed four 4 more large mobs of blacks one of which I was informed by the gins had been watching Mulligans prospecting camp on the Leichardt for some days with a view to making an attack upon it and as they were within a mile of that camp when I came upon them... I think the blacks have had a caution which will exercise a deterrent effect upon them for some time to come' (QSA COL A/49714 ITM665853 pp4-9) Following heavy rains in 2007, and surveys for a new road to a mining site between 2008 and 2010, the graves of 18 Kalkadoons were identified in the gorge. The road now takes a different route. |
| Sources | Fysh, 1961, pp 143-145; Agee, 2011; Bottoms, 2013, pp 164-165; QSA COL A/49714 (DR178972.pdf) ITM665853 pp4-9 https://www.archivessearch.qld.gov.au/items/ITM665853; Whittington, 1965 https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/15094936.pdf (Sources PDF) |
| Corroboration Rating | *** |
Colonial Frontier Massacres
in Australia, 1788-1930
