Site Name | Woolgar River |
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Place Name | |
Language Group, Nation or People | Ngawn |
Present State/Territory | QLD |
Colony/State/Territory at the time | QLD |
Police District | Cloncurry |
Latitude | -19.713 |
Longitude | 143.457 |
Date | Between 1 Jan 1872 and 31 Dec 1872 |
Attack Time | Day |
Victims | Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People |
Victim Descriptions | Aboriginal |
Victims Killed | 6 |
Victims Killed Notes | At least six killed. |
Attackers | Colonists |
Attacker Descriptions | Native Police |
Attackers Killed | 0 |
Attackers Killed Notes | |
Transport | Horse |
Motive | Reprisal |
Weapons Used | Snider(s) |
Narrative | In 1872, according to historian Jonathan Richards (2008, p 22), following the killing of John Cook by Ngawn people, 160 km from the Norman River, and most likely near the Woolgar River, Robert Gome, a witness to the killing, led Sub-Inspector Alexander Salmond and five native police troopers to the 'scene of the outrage' and then 'followed the tracks, came up with the blacks and dispersed them'. Salmond admitted that he 'found nothing' that would 'connect them with the outrage' (Gome and Salmond cited in Richards, 2008, p 22). |
Sources | Richards, 2008, p 22. (Sources PDF) |
Corroboration Rating | * |