Massacre at Abner Range

Date: 1 Apr 1886 – 31 May 1886
Place: Abner Range
Event type: massacre
Direct violence: Yes
Roberts (2009, np) wrote: 'Ted Lenehan (a stockman on McArthur River Station) was "hunting blacks" in March 1886 when he was killed (speared). His body was dismembered in a practice performed by the Ngarnji tribe "for particularly violent men, to prevent their spirit from continuing to perform evil deeds". After Lenehan's death, Sir John Cockburn, minister for the Northern Territory in the Downer Government in South Australia, ordered Constable William Curtis and five native police based at the Roper River to investigate. In May 1886, they met with the station manager, Tom Lynott, and 15 stockmen, including the notorious Tommy Campbell. [There were] Aboriginal stockmen from Queensland, whose tracking skills were invaluable���One of the massacres that followed occurred on top of the Abner Range, a hundred kilometres from where Lenehan had been killed. After picking up the fresh tracks of about 70 or 80 fleeing Aboriginals, the party of 22 galloped after them. The blacks were travelling so fast that some of the old ladies couldn't keep up and were left behind. Charley Gaunt, one of the white stockmen, later wrote a detailed account of what happened, but was silent on whether the old ladies were shot.'
Notes:
CorroborationRating: ***
LanguageGroup: Garawa, Ngandji
Victims: Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People
VictimsDead: 25

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Sources

Event mentions

  • Massacre at Abner Range
    1 Apr 1886 – 31 May 1886 — Abner Range — massacre
    Roberts (2009, np) wrote: 'Ted Lenehan (a stockman on McArthur River Station) was "hunting blacks" in March 1886 when he was killed (speared). His body was dismembered in a practice performed by the Ngarnji tribe "for particularly violent men, to prevent their spirit from continuing to perform evil deeds". After Lenehan's death, Sir John Cockburn, minister for the Northern Territory in the Downer Government in South Australia, ordered Constable William Curtis and five native police based at the Roper River to investigate. In May 1886, they met with the station manager, Tom Lynott, and 15 stockmen, including the notorious Tommy Campbell. [There were] Aboriginal stockmen from Queensland, whose tracking skills were invaluable���One of the massacres that followed occurred on top of the Abner Range, a hundred kilometres from where Lenehan had been killed. After picking up the fresh tracks of about 70 or 80 fleeing Aboriginals, the party of 22 galloped after them. The blacks were travelling so fast that some of the old ladies couldn't keep up and were left behind. Charley Gaunt, one of the white stockmen, later wrote a detailed account of what happened, but was silent on whether the old ladies were shot.'
    Source: Roberts, 2009, np; O'Brien & Adams, 1999, p 7; NTTG, April 24, 1886 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3159378; Costello 1930, pp 164, 167; Northern Standard, October 16, 1931, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article48050361; May 29, 1934 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49494183 and June 1, 1934 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49494267 p 508 & p 517; Bottoms, 2013, pp 156-158.