Bendigo Creek is a seasonal

stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream ...

, or

creek A creek in North America and elsewhere, such as Australia, is a stream that is usually smaller than a river. In the British Isles it is a small tidal inlet. Creek may also refer to: People * Creek people, also known as Muscogee, Native Americans ...

, in

North Central Victoria North Central Victoria is a rural region in the Australian state of Victoria. The region lies to the south of the Victorian/New South Wales border as defined by the Murray River, to the southwest of the Hume region, to the west of the Great Div ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The

city of Bendigo The City of Bendigo was a local government area covering the central area and inner western suburbs of the regional city of Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1855 to 1994. History The City of Bendi ...

is named for the creek and

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

in which it was founded in 1851.

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

was officially discovered on Bendigo Creek in late October 1851, transforming the area in less than a year from a secluded bushland to a scene which "beggared description" as tens of thousands of men, women and children came to the area during the

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

at Bendigo Creek in 1852.

Location and features

The creek rises in the Big Hill range south-west of the

near the Crusoe Reservoir. Starting at an elevation of 287 metres, the creek almost immediately flows through the Crusoe Reservoir at 286 metres and then forms a geographic spine through Bendigo's CBD either past or under many of the city's landmarks including the Alexandra Fountain at

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City; ...

Rosalind Park Rosalind Park is an Australian park in Bendigo, Victoria. Prior to white settlement, a grassy woodland surrounding what is now called Bendigo Creek. At that time the creek was little more than a chain of pools and billabongs. This area would ha ...

Lake Weeroona Lake Weeroona is a man-made lake in the city of Bendigo, Victoria. History Lake Weeroona was commissioned in 1878 under the supervision of William Guilfoyle, the art director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria a ...

and the Bendigo Botanic Gardens. The Bendigo Creek Trail, for walkers and cyclists, follows the creek's course north-east from the Crusoe Reservoir past natural bush and historic landmarks to the Bendigo Pottery in Epsom. The creek descends nearly 200 metres over its 153-kilometre course before joining Mount Hope Creek, northeast of Mitiamo, at an elevation of 87.3 metres. Myers Creek, Reedy Creek and Piccaninny Creek flow into Bendigo Creek. Over many millennia, the flow of the Bendigo Creek formed the Bendigo Valley, the site of the present city of Bendigo.

History

The first European settlers, who arrived in 1837 after the survey of the area in 1836 by Major Sir Thomas Mitchell, used the Bendigo Valley for their working bullocks as the valley was "wide, gentle, well-grassed and secluded". Later the settlers brought

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

to the creek valley, making it an outstation of the

Mount Alexander Mount Alexander is a mountain located approximately 125 km north-west of Melbourne, near the town of Harcourt. It rises 350 metres above the surrounding area to a level of 744 metres above sea level. Being a prominent local landmark, ...

North

pastoral run A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands. Australia Pastoral lea ...

and building a hut on the creek in the valley. The creek was just within the north-eastern boundary of the Mount Alexander North pastoral run. The location on Bendigo Creek where gold was alleged to have been first discovered in October 1851 was a short distance from that shepherd's hut. Charing Cross Bendigo 1853

Etymology

The occupants of the Mount Alexander North run, later called the Ravenswood run, named the creek "Bendigo' Creek", originally spelled "Bednego Creek" after a local bullock driver and employee of the Mount Alexander North run. Although the bullock driver's actual name remains unknown, he "was handy with his fists" and was consequently nicknamed for the English bare-knuckle prizefighter William Abednego "Bendigo" Thompson (1811-1880) who was then at the height of his fame. So the word "Bendigo" is a corruption of the name "Abednego" in its shortened form, "Bednego".Cusack, Frank (1973). Bendigo: a history (p. 67) Bendigo Thompson was a famously agile boxer who initially earned the nickname "Bendy" because of his constant bobbing and weaving around the ring. His nickname evolved: "Bendy" in combination with his middle name, Abednego, became "Bendigo".

References

{{Authority control Rivers of Victoria (Australia) Murray-Darling basin North-Central catchment Rivers of Loddon Mallee (region) Bendigo