Massacre at 'The Cedars' Burnett River

Date: 1 Jun 1849 – 31 Jul 1849
Place: 'The Cedars' Burnett River
Event type: massacre
Direct violence: Yes
On 4 June 1849, following the Aboriginal killing of the Pegg brothers, employed as shepherds on Gregory Blaxland's Gin Gin station, Blaxland and his nephew William Forster organised a punitive party of over 50 station hands and squatters including the Thompson Brothers of Walla Station They travelled downstream and located a large Aboriginal camp in dense scrub, in an area that has since become known as 'The Cedars'. Clem Lack reported: 'The white man attacked at piccaninny dawn. More than 100 myalls were asleep, gorged with roast mutton, in groups around the ashes of burnt out fires, half a mile away from the waters of the Burnett. The affray was one of the bloodiest in Queensland frontier history, although no white man was killed. Many of the Aboriginals escaped by plunging into the Burnett and swimming to the other side. Some were picked off by marksmen and sank beneath the surface. More than half a century later, ploughmen at The Cedars���brought to light grim relics. Skulls, bones, some tomahawks, boomerangs, and other weapons...' (Lack, 1967).
Notes:
CorroborationRating: *
LanguageGroup: Taribelang
Victims: Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead: 60

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Sources

Event mentions

  • Massacre at 'The Cedars' Burnett River
    1 Jun 1849 – 31 Jul 1849 — 'The Cedars' Burnett River — massacre
    On 4 June 1849, following the Aboriginal killing of the Pegg brothers, employed as shepherds on Gregory Blaxland's Gin Gin station, Blaxland and his nephew William Forster organised a punitive party of over 50 station hands and squatters including the Thompson Brothers of Walla Station They travelled downstream and located a large Aboriginal camp in dense scrub, in an area that has since become known as 'The Cedars'. Clem Lack reported: 'The white man attacked at piccaninny dawn. More than 100 myalls were asleep, gorged with roast mutton, in groups around the ashes of burnt out fires, half a mile away from the waters of the Burnett. The affray was one of the bloodiest in Queensland frontier history, although no white man was killed. Many of the Aboriginals escaped by plunging into the Burnett and swimming to the other side. Some were picked off by marksmen and sank beneath the surface. More than half a century later, ploughmen at The Cedars���brought to light grim relics. Skulls, bones, some tomahawks, boomerangs, and other weapons...' (Lack, 1967).
    Source: Coffey, 2006; Lack, 1967, np.; Laurie, 1959