Davenport Downs Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a

cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stati ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Description

It is situated about south east of

Boulia Boulia () is an outback town and locality in the Shire of Boulia, Queensland, Australia. In the , Boulia had a population of 301 people. Boulia is the administrative centre of the Boulia Shire, population approximately 600, which covers an area ...

and north east of

Birdsville Birdsville is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia. In the the locality of Birdsville had a population of 110 people. It is a popular tourist destination with many people using it as a starting point acro ...

in the

channel country The Channel Country is a region of outback Australia mostly in the state of Queensland but also in parts of South Australia, Northern Territory and New South Wales. The name comes from the numerous intertwined rivulets that cross the region ...

of Queensland. Davenport Downs is the largest cattle station in Queensland and the fourth largest station in Australia after

Anna Creek station Anna Creek Station is the world's largest working cattle station. It is located in the Australian state of South Australia. Description Anna Creek Station has an area of which is slightly larger than Israel. It is larger than its nearest ri ...

, Alexandria Station and

Clifton Hills Station Clifton Hills Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the far north of South Australia. Description It is situated approximately south of Birdsville and north west of Innamincka. The property encompasses part of th ...

. Together with Springvale station which is run in aggregate with Davenport they occupy an area of and are currently owned by Paraway Pastoral Company. Composed of

mitchell grass ''Astrebla'' is a small genus of xerophytic (adapted to survive in an environment with little liquid water) grasses found only in Australia. They are the dominant grass across much of the continent. They are commonly known as Mitchell grass afte ...

downsland in the channel country, it has good access to water via many bores that tap into the

Great Artesian Basin The Great Artesian Basin (GAB), located in Australia, is the largest and deepest artesian basin in the world, stretching over , with measured water temperatures ranging from . The basin provides the only source of fresh water through much of ...

as well as the

Diamantina River The Diamantina River is a major river located in Central West Queensland and the far north of South Australia. The river was named by William Landsborough in 1866 for Lady Diamantina Bowen (née Roma), wife of Sir George Bowen, the first Govern ...

and Farrars Creek both of which cross the property. Both the waterways will often flood about one quarter of the property during the

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...

providing abundant of feed.

History

The lease was first taken up by pioneer and pastoralist John Costello in the late 1860s. The property was acquired by prominent pastoralist, James Rutherford in the late 1860s along with other runs in Queensland such as Ingledoon (which adjoins Davenport Downs), Ambathala near

Charleville Charleville can refer to: Australia * Charleville, Queensland, a town in Australia **Charleville railway station, Queensland France * Charleville, Marne, a commune in Marne, France *Charleville-Mézières, a commune in Ardennes, France ** C ...

and Burrenbilla near

Cunnamulla Cunnamulla () is a town and a locality in the Shire of Paroo, Queensland, Australia. It is south of Charleville, and approximately west of the state capital, Brisbane. In the , Cunnamulla had a population of 1,140 people. Geography Cunnamulla ...

. Following Rutherford's death the property was sold by the executors in 1913. The leasehold was advertised as having an area of with the lease expiring in June 1946. It also had two artesian bores at this time and 20,200 cattle, 340 horses and 68

camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...

s, all the stock were included with the property. It was acquired by Thomas Purcell who also owned Galway Downs, Manilla and Whitula stations for £67,000. Purcell later sold the property in 1925 to the two lessees of a neighbouring property named Cooper and Trenerry. The station was running 17,000 cattle at the time and had an area of . The rivers and creeks were all running in 1928 cutting roads into the station for a few days. The body of an unfortunate German named J. Lelanes was found at a wayside camp on Davenport in 1930. He was thought to have died of

dehydration In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water, with an accompanying disruption of metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds free water intake, usually due to exercise, disease, or high environmental temperature. Mil ...

between Windorah and Springvale then his body was later washed down by floodwaters. The station was gripped by drought in 1932. Airmail delivery to remote properties in

outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...

South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland commenced in 1949. Davenport Downs along with other remote properties including Mungerannie, Clifton Hills,

Glengyle Glengyle distillery is a long-established Scotch whisky production centre in Campbeltown, Argyll & Bute, that closed down in 1925. In 2000 it was totally re-planned as the first new Scottish distillery of the millennium. Its single malts are bot ...

, Mulka, Morney Plains, Mount Leonard, Durrie,

Cordillo Downs Cordillo Downs or Cordillo Downs Station is both a pastoral lease currently operating as a cattle station and a formal bounded locality in South Australia. It is located about north of Innamincka and south east of Birdsville. The name and bo ...

Tanbar Station Tanbar Station is a pastoral lease that currently operates as a cattle station in Tanbar, Shire of Barcoo, Queensland, Australia. It is located approximately south west of Windorah and north east of Innamincka in the Channel Country of Q ...

, Durham Downs,

Nappa Merrie Nappa Merrie Station, most commonly known as Nappa Merrie, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in central west Queensland, Australia. Description The property is located north east of Innamincka and south east of Birdsvi ...

, Lake Pure and

Naryilco Naryilco Station also known as Naryilco Downs is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station. Description It is located about north of Tibooburra and south east of Innanincka in the Channel Country of outback Queensland. It consists ...

were also on the route. The station was infested with

feral cat A feral cat or a stray cat is an unowned domestic cat (''Felis catus'') that lives outdoors and avoids human contact: it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans. Feral cats may breed over dozens ...

s in 1992, prompting the then environment minister

Pat Comben Patrick "Pat" Comben AM (born 3 May 1950) is a former Australian politician. He was born in Weymouth in Dorset and was raised on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, attending the Portland Secondary Modern School. Leaving school at 16 he migrated b ...

to send in army

sharpshooter A sharpshooter is one who is highly proficient at firing firearms or other projectile weapons accurately. Military units composed of sharpshooters were important factors in 19th-century combat. Along with "marksman" and "expert", "sharpshooter" i ...

s to reduce the population. This was mostly done to protect the wild bilby colonies in the area. The sharpshooters culled about 500 cats over three days, one of which weighed in at . Part of

Astrebla Downs National Park Astrebla Downs is a national park in Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia. Geography Astrebla Downs is located in the Channel Country of outback Queensland, 1298 km west of Brisbane. The landscape is flat and barren with few trees. ...

was resumed by the state government in 1995 from the then owner,

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Description

History

See also

References