| Narrative | According to historian Clive Moore (1990), in February 1867, settler John Cook at Balnagowan station, on the north side of the Pioneer River, found 'one cow dead from spear wounds and one speared and hamstrung but alive.' He telegraphed for the Native Police who did not arrive until April, led by Acting Sub-Inspector Johnstone, a local man from Lansdown Valley. They patrolled for several days 'along the north side of the [Pioneer] River,...coming across several Aboriginal Camps, one inhabited by upwards of 200 Aborigines' (Moore, 1990, p 65). On 24 April, the Mackay Mercury and South Kennedy Advertiser (1867, p 2) reported that: 'they were dealt with in the usual and only effectual mode of restraining their savage propensities by the officer and party, so that we may now hope that life and property will be safe for a time on the other side of the river.' Clive Moore (1990, p 68) concluded: 'There seems no doubt that a massacre occurred at [Mt Mandurana] 'The Leap' in 1867 and that the survivor was a female Aborigine, probably about two or three years old...[and that] the woman and probably others from her tribe were forced to jump. There are caves at the top of the mountain that the Aborigines used, presumably for temporary shelters, while out hunting in pre-1862 years, and also as hiding places when under attack post 1862. They may not have expected the Native Police to pursue them to the top of the mountain, then found themselves with no option but to face the troopers' carbines or go over the precipice.'
It is estimated that at least 50 Aboriginal people were killed during the Native Police patrol. |
