The Dale River is a
perennial river
A perennial stream is a stream that has continuous flow of surface water throughout the year in at least parts of its catchment during seasons of normal rainfall, Water Supply Paper 494. as opposed to one whose flow is intermittent. In the abs ...
located in the
Wheatbelt region of
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
.
Rising on the eastern slopes of the
Darling Scarp
The Darling Scarp, also referred to as the Darling Range or Darling Ranges, is a low escarpment running north–south to the east of the Swan Coastal Plain and Perth, Western Australia. The escarpment extends generally north of Bindoon, to th ...
, the river flow generally east by north, joined by six major tributaries including the Dale River South, Gibb Gully, Connelly Gully, Sherlock Gully, Flint Gully and Talbot Brook. The river reaches its
mouth
In animal anatomy, the mouth, also known as the oral cavity, or in Latin cavum oris, is the opening through which many animals take in food and issue vocal sounds. It is also the cavity lying at the upper end of the alimentary canal, bounded on ...
to join the
Avon River approximately west of near the
Avondale Agricultural Research Station. The river descends over its
course.
The Dale River was named in honour of
Robert Dale
Lieutenant Robert Dale (1810–20 July 1853) was the first European explorer to cross the Darling Range in Western Australia.
Robert Dale was born in Winchester, England in November 1810, son of Major Thurston Dale and Helen Matthews. Throug ...
, the first European explorer to venture into the Darling Ranges in 1829.
The Dale River has been a historically useful waterway for the Wheatbelt regions surrounding towns and cities. The Dale River's mouth connects with the Avon River which is in length and a significant tributary from the river Dale. The Avon River in turn is a stream running from the Swan River being a significant waterway of the city of Perth. The Dale River is overall an important ecosystem of Western Australia housing native flora and fauna and additionally maintains the livelihood of surrounding towns and cities.
History
Indigenous History
The Town of Beverley is the closest settlement of the Dale River. It has been home to the Ballardong people for thousands of years. The history of the Ballardong people has been marked through rock art around the region. The Ballardong people cultivated the land for food consisting of native foods.
The Noongar people are a large clan located along the South Coast of Western Australia and through the Wheatbelt region. They have been described as having a ‘sharing relationship’ and lacking an intense ‘competition for resources’.
The Noongar people initially clashed with the early European settlers of the Avon River region. In 1886 an Aboriginal Protection Act was introduced as a means to uphold indigenous rights to a degree within Western Australia.
Beverley
Beverley is a small town east of Perth, Western Australia. Beverley was founded in the year of 1838. It was deemed adequate for agricultural practices by English explorer Robert Dale who was the first European to explore the Darling Ranges of Western Australia and the individual who the Dale River was named after.
The town of Beverley has been deemed an important historical agricultural town of the Wheatbelt region. The town relies on the surrounding waterways of the Dale and Avon rivers as a means to support its agricultural practices and human inhabitance. west of Beverley is the Avondale Agricultural Museum which displays historical agricultural equipment and artefacts that portray the farming past of the Wheatbelt region that is located amongst the Dale and Avon rivers.
See also
*
List of rivers in Western Australia
References
{{Rivers of Western Australia
Avon River (Western Australia)