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Innamincka Station, often called simply Innamincka, is a pastoral lease in the Australian state of
* In 1953 the property only received of rain and only in 1954.
The station had an excellent season in 1981; the country was reported as having "masses of yellow and white wildflowers".
Innamincka Station, often called simply Innamincka, is a pastoral lease in the Australian state of South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
. It 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 stat ...
. It is located about north-east of the small township
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...
of the same name. west of the 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
, establishe ...
border, and south-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 ...
. the station – the second largest in South 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 r ...
– occupied an area of and was owned by the pastoral company, S. Kidman & Co.
The name of the station derives from two Aboriginal words meaning ''your shelter'' and ''your home''.
History
Innamincka Station was established in 1872 by Robert Bostock as the first station and permanent settlement alongCooper Creek
The Cooper Creek (formerly Cooper's Creek) is a river in the Australian states of Queensland and South Australia. It was the site of the death of the explorers Burke and Wills in 1861. It is sometimes known as the Barcoo River from one of its t ...
. The station expanded until it covered more than . In 1881, when the station and stock were sold to William Campbell for £60,000, it supported a herd of 8,000 cattle.
A man who became an Australian cattle baron
Cattle baron is a historic term for a local businessman and landowner who possessed great power or influence through the operation of a large ranch with many beef cattle. Cattle barons in the late 19th century United States were also sometimes re ...
, Sidney Kidman
Sir Sidney Kidman (9 May 18572 September 1935), known as Sid Kidman and popularly named "the Cattle King", was an Australian pastoralist and entrepreneur who owned or co-owned large areas of land in Australia in his lifetime.
Early life
Sidne ...
, bought Innamincka in 1908 from the trustees of the estate of William Campbell, when the station covered more than . He immediately sold 250 bullocks in the Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
yards, which were much admired for their "breeding and quality". Suffering financially after bad drought, Kidman sold the property in 1918; he later repurchased it.
In 1954, it covered an area of .
In 1981, it covered an area of .
In the late 1950s and the 1960s, the Australian energy company, Santos Limited
Santos Ltd. (South Australia Northern Territory Oil Search) is an Australian oil and gas exploration and production company, with its headquarters in Adelaide, South Australia. It owns liquefied natural gas (LNG), pipeline gas, and oil assets. ...
, conducted a drilling program for oil and natural gas in the Cooper Basin
The Cooper Basin is a Permian-Triassic sedimentary geological basin in Australia. The basin is located mainly in the southwestern part of Queensland and extends into northeastern South Australia. It is named after the Cooper Creek which is an ...
, including at localities near Innamincka; the first commercial gas was discovered in 1963. Eventually 145 gas fields and 76 oil fields came into production, feeding into production facilities at Moomba
Moomba (also known as the Moomba Festival) is held annually in Melbourne, Australia. Run by the City of Melbourne, it is Australia's largest free community festival. The Melburnian tradition is celebrated over four days, incorporating the La ...
, to the south-west.
Floods and drought are characteristics of Australian outback localities. Those that affected Innamincka included the following:
* The Cooper Creek inundated the station in 1891.
* The locality was struck by a severe drought in 1902.
* The homestead
Homestead may refer to:
*Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses
* Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres
*Homestead principle, a legal concept t ...
was washed away during the floods of 1906.
* Between 1914 and 1916 the area was struck by drought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
, killing about 10,000 cattle at Innamincka.Kidman also lost 65,000 more on his other properties through 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, ...
, including Diamantina Lakes, Durham Downs, Glengyle and Sandringham Stations.
* During floods in 1939, water levels came within of the 1906 mark.
* The entire area was struck by drought
A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
in 1946, causing many cattle deaths and destocking of properties.
* The area suffered severe flooding in March 1949 when it was hit with record rainfall. More than of rain fell in four weeks – as much as would normally fall in four years. The area was described as a "vast inland sea", with Cooper Creek running at more than wide.
* In 1953 the property only received of rain and only in 1954.
The station had an excellent season in 1981; the country was reported as having "masses of yellow and white wildflowers".
References
Notes
See also
*List of ranches and stations
This is a list of ranches and sheep and cattle stations, organized by continent. Most of these are notable either for the large geographic area which they cover, or for their historical or cultural importance.
West Africa
* Obudu Cattle Ranch
* S ...
*List of the largest stations in Australia
This is a list of the largest stations in Australia, which includes stations with an area in excess of .
All of the largest pastoral leases are located in the states of South Australia (SA), Queensland (QLD) and Western Australia (WA); or in the ...
External Links
{{Stations of Sidney Kidman Far North (South Australia) Stations (Australian agriculture) Pastoral leases in South Australia 1872 establishments in Australia