Ketchowla Station is a

pastoral lease 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 lease ...

operating as a

sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...

in the

Mid North The Mid North is a region of South Australia, north of the Adelaide Plains and south of the Far North and the outback. It is generally accepted to extend from Spencer Gulf east to the Barrier Highway, including the coastal plain, the southern ...

region 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 ...

. The property homestead is situated in the locality of Pine Creek approximately south east of Terowie and north west of

Morgan Morgan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Morgan (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Morgan le Fay, a powerful witch in Arthurian legend * Morgan (surname), a surname of Welsh origin * Morgan (singer), ...

. The property is composed of open plains and

salt bush Saltbush is a vernacular plant name that most often refers to ''Atriplex'', a genus of about 250 plants distributed worldwide from subtropical to subarctic regions. ''Atriplex'' species are native to Australia, North and South America, and Eurasia. ...

country and is watered by a surface spring in the Ketchowla range and by several bores. Stations in the local area including Ketchowla are home to some of the world's oldest

rock art In archaeology, rock art is human-made markings placed on natural surfaces, typically vertical stone surfaces. A high proportion of surviving historic and prehistoric rock art is found in caves or partly enclosed rock shelters; this type also ...

dated at being approximately 44,000 years old. Ketchowla was established in 1852 when Christopher Giles, who had only arrived in the colony in 1849, took up the lease. Giles advertised the property to be put up for auction in 1860 when it occupied an area of , had a flock of 3,700 sheep and two bores that were watered by the spring. 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 th ...

contained seven rooms constructed out of wood and stone with a detached kitchen. Other infrastructure included a

shearing shed Shearing sheds (or wool sheds) are large sheds located on sheep stations to accommodate large scale sheep shearing activities. In countries where large numbers of sheep are kept for wool, sometimes many thousands in a flock, shearing sheds ar ...

, stockyards and four other huts The run was purchased in 1861 by Captain Hillary Boucart who took a half share with Giles retaining the other half. Boucart and a young

Alfred Giles Alfred Giles may refer to: * Alfred Giles (architect) (1853–1920), Texas architect * Alfred Giles (civil engineer) (1816–1895), British civil engineer and politician * Alfred Giles (explorer) (1846–1931), South Australian bushman, drover and ...

resided at Ketchowla where the property served the men well supporting a flock of about 17,000 sheep. The men had spent over £10,000 mostly on

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

s and other improvements when 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 ...

from 1864 to 1866 so the flock was greatly reduced even having to kill the lambs to save the ewes. The men had to sell off the property as a result, losing nearly everything as a result. The station then passed onto the Austin Brothers who dissolved their partnership in 1873 and attempted to auction the that was stocked with 26,000 sheep. In 1874, a flock of 7,000 sheep from Ketchowla was stopped in the Coorong on the way to market by inspectors who detected several animals infected with

fluke Fluke may refer to: Biology * Fluke (fish), a species of marine flatfish * Fluke (tail), the lobes of the tail of a cetacean, such as dolphins or whales, ichthyosaurs, mosasaurs Mosasaurs (from Latin ''Mosa'' meaning the 'Meuse', and Greek ...

within the flock. The infected animals were destroyed and the rest of the flock

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

d. The Austins also eventually lost everything, the property was then acquired by

Thomas Elder Sir Thomas Elder, (5 August 1818 – 6 March 1897), was a Scottish-Australian pastoralist, highly successful businessman, philanthropist, politician, race-horse owner and breeder, and public figure. Amongst many other things, he is notable fo ...

. Huge

dust storm A dust storm, also called a sandstorm, is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Fine particles are transporte ...

s, described as the worst in 50 years, swept the area in 1929. A

lorry A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

with the brakes on was blown into a tree from the force of the winds. In 1950, Ketchowla and surrounding areas received near record rainfall with Ketchowla recording over in February.

References

{{Reflist Pastoral leases in South Australia Stations (Australian agriculture) Mid North (South Australia) 1852 establishments in Australia

See also

References