| Site Name | Skeleton Creek |
| Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Place Name | |
| Language Group, Nation or People | Garawa |
| Present State/Territory | NT |
| Colony/State/Territory at the time | SA |
| Police District | Unpoliced |
| Latitude | -16.168 |
| Longitude | 137.499 |
| Date | Between 1 Feb 1884 and 28 Feb 1884 |
| Attack Time | |
| Victims | Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People |
| Victim Descriptions | Aboriginal |
| Victims Killed | 50 |
| Victims Killed Notes | |
| Attackers | Colonists |
| Attacker Descriptions | Overlander(s) |
| Attackers Killed | 0 |
| Attackers Killed Notes | |
| Transport | |
| Motive | Reprisal |
| Weapons Used | Firearm(s) |
| Narrative | From Roberts (2005, p 58): 'Early in 1884 the third mob of cattle for McArthur River Station, 1200 head from Lawn Hill (Boodjamulla is the Waanyi name), were delivered by Charley Willis. His party included Tudor Shadforth, Carl Hansen (later 'George Nicholson'), Louis ('Mickey') Nash, Charley Gaunt, and John Garrett. At a creek between the Calvert and Robinson rivers their camp was attacked at night by Garrwa who stampeded the cattle and drove off some of the hobbled horses. None of the party was injured. The tracks led to three dead horses and another so badly speared it had to be shot. Continuing on their way after mustering the cattle, the men met Jack Watson, who worked on Lawn Hill and was returning home after delivering the second mob to McArthur River. With him were four Queensland 'boys'. After learning what had happened, Watson swore he would "teach the blacks a lesson" when he reached the creek. Frank Hann, who owned Lawn Hill, stated in a letter the following year that the attackers were in the act of cooking the horse meat "when my people came on them", referring apparently to Watson and his boys. "I believe that very few of them got away…" This was later confirmed by Charley Gaunt: "Spending two weeks on the creek, he [Watson] tracked and hunted those niggers, shooting them down as he came up (p 59) with them, until there was not a black on the creek. He was merciless and spared none." The place where this happened became known as Skeleton Creek'. Charlie Gaunt (1931, p 4), who was present, made a fleeting reference to this massacre in his recollections published in 1931. |
| Sources | Roberts, 2005, p 59; Gaunt, 'Old Time Memories: The Birth of Borroloola' in Northern Standard, 13 October, 1931, p 4 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/48051049; Ritchie, Lead in my Grandmother's Body (exhibition) https://www.leadinmygrandmothersbody.com; See Auvergne Station in Lewis, 2021, p 11. (Sources PDF) |
| Corroboration Rating | *** |
