Site NameWoolgar River
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Place Name
Language Group, Nation or PeopleNgawn
Present State/TerritoryQLD
Colony/State/Territory at the timeQLD
Police DistrictCloncurry
Latitude-19.713
Longitude143.457
DateBetween 1 Jan 1872 and 31 Dec 1872
Attack TimeDay
VictimsAboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
Victim DescriptionsAboriginal
Victims Killed6
Victims Killed NotesAt least six killed.
AttackersColonists
Attacker DescriptionsNative Police
Attackers Killed0
Attackers Killed Notes
TransportHorse
MotiveReprisal
Weapons UsedSnider(s)
NarrativeIn 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).
SourcesRichards, 2008, p 22. (Sources PDF)
Corroboration Rating*