The Victoria is the longest river in the Northern Territory and is located southwest of Katherine near the Warlpiri community of Lajamanu, formerly known as Hooker Creek (Lajamanu is a long way north of traditional Warlpiri country, but it is one of the places to which Warlpiri were driven while being pursued during the Coniston reprisal massacres of 1928). ‘The Vic’, as it is known, is about 560 km long, originates at Judbarra, flows into the Timor Sea and is fed by the West Baines, Wickham, Gordon, Armstrong and Camfield Rivers. The small town of Timber Creek is on the Victoria Highway, which runs broadly parallel to the river.

Pastoralism was the catalyst for the Victoria River Wars, which commenced when Charles Brown Fisher and his business partner J Maurice Lyons took the first pastoral leases in December 1879. By the end of 1882 Fisher & Lyons had 100,000 square kilometres under lease and named it Victoria River Downs (Main, 1972, np).

Nathaniel ‘Nat’ ‘Bluey’ Buchanan established Wave Hill Station in 1882. The same year, his brother William—who had vast pastoral holdings in New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory— took up neighbouring Sturt Creek Station and later went into partnership with Nat. With his son Gordon and Sam Croker, Nat Buchanan pioneered the Murranji Track, which was a 230km stock route from Newcastle Waters to old Top Springs, in 1886 (Smith, 2024, pp 84-87).

A police station was established at Gordon Creek in 1894 and in 1898 was relocated to Timber Creek.

The Victoria River Wars continued well into the 1900s as stations were established along the river, a bountiful and permanent water source, and the stock route it enabled from Queensland, across the Northern Territory and into the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Native Police were not common in the Northern Territory but were twice formed under the command of Constable William Willshire. Willshire had already killed 19 Aboriginal people (Mulvaney, 1990) before being arrested for murdering Aboriginal people in 1891, and released after a controversial trial that raised questions among colonists over its failure to accept evidence from witnesses (South Australian Register, 7 Aug 1891, p 6). Willshire was posted to the Victoria River region to command Native Police in 1893 where his brutal practices resulted in him being ordered back to Adelaide in 1895 (Mulvaney, 1990, np). While at Victoria River he was held back for a time by a group of 7 Aboriginal warriors, "You no doubt remember the weary, anxious time I spent on the Victoria, when there were seven civilized blacks at large in the ranges with firearms, and not one of them had any love for me, and had I overstepped the limits of prudence on that occasion I would have been shot from behind their hiding places." (Willshire, 1896, p 5) and was involved in the killing of a resistance leader known as 'Newingurry', 'It was a great blow to the blackfellows' prestige when they lost "Newingurry." He was a reserve force within himself, but he suddenly left for that "undiscovered country from whence no traveller returns." Proudly I recall the day when on the Lower Victoria I came full butt on to the murderers of "Joseph Bradshaw's boy"' (Willshire, 1896, p 6).

Romantic narratives were attached to the pioneers of the era, however:

In their later years…some men lifted a corner of this veil of secrecy to reveal glimpses of the dark past. Donald Swan, a member of Nat Buchanan’s 1882 party, explained the bush code that enshrouded punitive expeditions:

The bushman’s code of honour is this way: either stand in with the mob and keep your mouth shut, or refuse to stand in and also keep your mouth shut. In either case you will be respected and no more will be required of you in the matter (Roberts, 2005, p 138; Owen, 2016, p 147).

Warriors fought back by spearing stock and raiding stores, and by targeting colonial leaders and the worst colonial offenders. This led to severe reprisal killings of Aboriginal people. The earliest recorded massacre was at Waterloo in 1886, which was a reprisal for the spearing death of ‘Big Johnny’ Durack near Mount Duncan. Lewis (2018, pp 51-52) wrote that the ‘name Waterloo is said to be a reference to the “unrestrained slaughter” of local Aborigines by police’ after Durack’s death. Other reprisals were for:

• the killing of GS ‘Syd’ Scott, Manager of Willeroo Station, in 1892
• the killing of Police Trooper Joe Collins at Behn River in 1893
• pilfering stores, sheep and cattle killing at Bradshaw Station in 1895 and 1896 (Ryan et al, 2024, np).

The wars continued well into the next century. For example, ‘Brigalow Bill’ Ward was killed at Yarralin in 1909. Of this man, Rose recorded Tim Yilgnayarri, who said:

And you know that Brigalow? Right. Brigalow was doing wrong. He was shooting all the people. Shoot-i-i-n-n-n-g, get all the sing girls for married. Take them down to his place. Just the young girl, and some of the middle aged, all that girl. Four fellow… Watchin him that waaay, get the towel and soap…Too late. That spear killed him. Bbbbb. Strike him la water. Right. All the boys go back, take the women. And sugar, tea, flour, all the blanket, fly, take the whole lot (Rose, 1991, p 122).

Clashes were recorded at Humbert River Station in 1910 and elsewhere in the district well afterwards. A large massacre of Malngin people was recorded at Limbunya Station in 1920 (Charola & Meakins, 2016, pp 70-71); another at Bedford Downs in 1924.

Police, without appropriate—or any—supervision, acted in the interests of the pastoralists. Rather than being dismissed for his conduct at Borroloola, Mounted Constable Gordon Cameron Heaslop Stott was posted to Victoria River in 1933. There, he resumed his sadistic practices, as Banjo Ryan recalled in 2015:

"'You reckon you can run as fast as a horse?' Gordon Stott the policeman taunted the prisoner. Stott took the chains off one of the prisoner's feet and then the other. Then he got a horse rasp and filed the sole of his foot until it bled" (Charola & Meakins, 2016, p 221).

The poisoning deaths of at least five Gurindji people was recorded at Timber Creek in 1936 (Chronicle, 11 June 1936, p 41).

This is how Daly Pulkara, a Ngarinman man from Yarralin, recalled the wars, many of which were triggered by the abduction of women for sexual slavery:

Pulkara: them bloody whatsa – European come on after that. Banging, banging time now. They reckon lightning somewhere. ‘Ah, that man he get out bushed’. They reckon that lightning. Another bloke drop. Yeah. Bang! ‘Nother bloke. They bin lookin’ at, you know, they bin lookin’ eye. Something wrong. Got a blood come through the nose. ‘Oh might be lightning’. Bang! See? They didn’t catch on for while. They pick up all the woman and European takem away. Eh? Aborign just followem up (Read & Read, 1993, pp 7-8).

Contributor: Robyn Smith

Notable People

Jerry, a Ngarinman man who escaped the Waterloo reprisal massacres in 1886.

Newingurry, a resistance leader mentioned by Willshire, who implied he was killed during the Bradshaw reprisals. (Willshire, 1896, p 6) 

Gurindji (Ngarinman and Bilinara), Wardaman and Karrangpurru warriors (see AIATSIS map).

Bradshaw, Joseph ‘Captain Joe’ - cousin of and closely associated with Aeneas Gunn of Elsey Station, he took up Bradshaw Station in 1893. He was later involved with Arafura Station in Arnhem Land, which was owned by the Eastern and African Cold Storage Company from 1903 until 1908 and in which he was a shareholder and the General Manager (Smith, 2024, pp 82-83).

Braitling, William Walter ‘Billy’ – a drover for Vesteys, he took up Passchendale Station in 1921 and sold it in 1928 (Smith, 2024, p 83).

Buchanan, Nathaniel ‘Nat’ aka ‘Bluey’ – took up Wave Hill Station with his brothers in 1882 and pioneered the Murranji Track with his son Gordon and Sam Croker in 1886 (Smith, 2024, pp 84-87).

Cahill, Patrick ‘Paddy’ – buffalo shooter who accompanied Buchanan on several expeditions. Managed Wave Hill, Delamere and Gordon Downs Stations.

Crawford, Lindsay – originally employed on the overland telegraph line, appointed Manager of Victoria River Downs 1884-1890. In 1895, he said:

…during the last ten years, in fact since the first white man settled here, we have held no communication with the natives at all, except with the rifle. They have never been allowed near this station or the outstations, being too treacherous and warlike (Smith, 2024, p 94).

Croker, Samuel Burns ‘Greenhide Sam’ – long-time employee of Nat Buchanan. Shot dead during a card game by Charlie (also spelt Charley) Flannigan on Auvergne Station in 1892 because he refused to partner with a half-caste (Flannigan) or a Chinaman, the station cook. Flannigan hanged for it at Fannie Bay Gaol in 1893 (Smith, 2017, p 11).

Eastern & African Cold Storage Co – held Elsey and Hodgson Downs Stations (Powell, 1982, pp 101, 129).

Fisher, Charles Brown and Lyons, J Maurice – formed Fisher and Lyons and held extensive pastoral leases in the Victoria River district. Sold to Goldsborough Mort in 1890.

Farquharson, Archie Mosman, Harry Gordon and Hughie (brothers) – owners of Inverway Station, 1896.

Ledgerwood, James Logan ‘Long Jim’ - Head Stockman of VRD Station in 1895 and was one of the leaders of the punitive expedition known as the Gordon Creek massacre that followed an attack on teamsters Mulligan and Ligar in the same year (Lewis, 2021, p 477).

Stott, Cameron Gordon Heaslop ‘Gordon’ – born en route to Cooktown in 1905, Stott was the son of a well-respected police officer who went on to become Commissioner. The younger Stott’s conduct was highly questionable and included grievous bodily harm and ‘deplorable cruelty’ in relation to prisoners (Wilson, 2000, p 130).

Watson, Jack ‘the Gulf hero’ – managed Victoria River Station after Crawford:

There is a source which credits Watson and the previous VRD manager, Crawford, with
making ‘it possible for white men to travel in most parts of the empty north without fear of
being murdered to make a myall’s holiday’ (North Queensland Herald, 20-5-1911) (Lewis, 2021, p 16; see also Smith, 2024, pp 112-113).

Wye, Oliver Garfield Walter ‘Walter’ - Manager of Bradshaw Station from 1907 until 1910. He was known by Aboriginal people in the district as ‘Old Wallaway’ (Lewis, 2021, p 69).

Sources

Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (1996) Map of Indigenous Australia: https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/map-indigenous-australia 

Charola E and Meakins F (Eds) (2016) Yijarni: true stories from Gurindji Country, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra.

Lewis D (2021) The Victoria River Doomsday Book, Lewis & National Centre for Biography, Australian National University, Canberra: https://hdl.handle.net/10070/836453

Main JM, ‘Charles Brown Fisher (1818-1908)’ in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol 4, 1972, Australian National University, Canberra: https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/fisher-charles-brown-379

Mulvaney DJ ‘William Henry Willshire (1852-1925)’ in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol 12, 1990, Australian National University, Canberra: https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/willshire-william-henry-9128

Northern Territory Place Names Register search: https://www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/placenames/

Owen C (2016) Every Mother’s Son is Guilty: policing the Kimberley Frontier of Western Australia 1882-1905, University of Western Australia Publishing, Perth.

Powell A (1982) Far country: a short history of the Northern Territory, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne.

Read P and Read J (1993) Long Time Olden Time: Aboriginal accounts of Northern Territory history, Institute for Aboriginal Development, Canberra.

Roberts T (2005) Frontier Justice: a history of the Gulf country to 1900, University of Queensland Press, Brisbane.

Rose DB (1991) Hidden Histories: back stories from Victoria River Downs, Humbert River and Wave Hill Stations, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra.

Ryan et al (2024) Colonial Frontier Massacres in Australia 1788-1930, Centre for 21st Century Humanities, University of Newcastle, NSW: https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/groups.php

Smith R (2017) Habeas Corpus: deaths at Fannie Bay Gaol 1883-1972, Heritage Branch, Northern Territory Government, Darwin.

Smith R (2021) ‘Kill or be killed: the real story of Charlie Flannigan, the first man hanged in the Northern Territory’ in NT Independent, 11 April 2021: https://ntindependent.com.au/kill-or-be-killed-the-real-story-of-charlie-flannigan-the-first-man-hanged-in-the-nt/

Smith R (2024) Licence to Kill: massacre men of Australia’s North, Historical Society of the Northern Territory, Darwin.

South Australian Register August 7, 1891 p 6 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48241058

Staff Writers, ‘Put poison in food after being speared’ in Chronicle (Adelaide), 11 June 1936, p 41.

Willshire, W.H. The Land of the Dawning W.K.Thomas & Co. Adelaide, 1896.

Wilson, WR (2000) A force apart?: a history of the Northern Territory Police Force 1870-1926, PhD thesis, Charles Darwin University, Darwin: https://researchers.cdu.edu.au/en/studentTheses/a-force-apart/

Timeline Map >

The following lists references to some people involved in this conflict. More may be added in future.

If an individual or group is mentioned more than once in an article, only one instance from that article is referenced. If they are mentioned in more than one article there is a record for each article. Where possible, links are provided to the article to read the full account. The sentence quoted may contain poor quality uncorrected text from Trove OCR.

Country/Nation/People/Language indicates which Indigenous group people belonged to. Different people in different places prefer different terminology, and sometimes the 'belonging' relates to one of these not another. In many cases, due to colonists' limited knowledge, the archival record may indicate only use generic terms (eg: 'blacks' or 'Murrimbidgee blacks'). In the absence of any other detail, it is assumed it is the people of that region (eg: Wiradjuri).

Listed are:

• Named Aboriginal or Torres Straight Islander people. This includes people involved in violent action, or in some other way involved, such as messengers. In many cases only the colonists' name (alias or aka - 'also known as') for the person is available.
• Unnamed individuals or groups of people. This is as specific as possible. If a group is mentioned, we indicate that group, then if an individual is mentioned, we also list that individual. These numbers should not be tallied to arrive at a total, as that would result in double counting. Estimates of numbers of people effected, of combatants directly involved in action, or of non-combatant victims, should be derived from population estimates and understanding of cultural roles, as well as information in sources.
• Colonists involved in the conflict. This list includes people whose stock, runs or huts were raided, or were involved in violent actions. In most cases colonists are named. In some cases someone involved may be referred to by their role only or as belonging to a run, or the owner of the run, eg: 'a shepherd' or 'Mr Smith's hutkeeper'.
• Indigenous Auxilliaries Auxiliaries are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people working for, or acting on behalf of colonists. This may be voluntarily or by coercion. This includes people such as trackers, workers and Native Police. The distinction is not always clear cut and some individuals acted on both sides of the conflict or changed sides.

Named Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People

Name / Alias:

Unnamed People

Colonists and Auxiliaries