The King River is a river in the Kimberley 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 ...

. The headwaters of the river rise between the Durack Range and the Saw Range. It flows southwards before turning north and continuing until it discharges into the West Arm of the

Cambridge Gulf Cambridge Gulf is a gulf on the north coast of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Many rivers flow into the gulf, including the Ord River, Pentecost River, Durack River, King River and the Forrest River, making the environment an es ...

just south of Wyndham. The river was named in 1884 during hydrographic surveys by Staff Commander James Coghlan after Captain

Phillip Parker King Rear Admiral Phillip Parker King, FRS, RN (13 December 1791 – 26 February 1856) was an early explorer of the Australian and Patagonian coasts. Early life and education King was born on Norfolk Island, to Philip Gidley King and Anna Jo ...

, who was the first European to chart the river mouth in 1818. The river flooded in 2005 following heavy rainfall when

Cyclone Ingrid Cyclone Ingrid was a tropical cyclone which struck northern Australia during the 2004–05 Australian region cyclone season. Its minimum pressure was 924 mbar ( hPa). Meteorological history Originally a low-pressure system north of the Gulf o ...

crossed the coast in the area. At Diggers Rest Station near Wyndham fences and livestock were swept away. The

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

name for the river is ''Goolime'' and

traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

of the areas around the river are the

Ngarinjin The Ngarinyin or Ngarinjin are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Their language, Ngarinyin, is also known as Ungarinyin. When referring to their traditional lands, they refer to themselves as Wilinggi ...

, for the area around its headwaters.

Norman Tindale Norman Barnett Tindale AO (12 October 1900 – 19 November 1993) was an Australian anthropologist, archaeologist, entomologist and ethnologist. Life Tindale was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1900. His family moved to Tokyo and lived ther ...

, ''Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names,''

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

1974 p.251.

References

External links

Rivers of the Kimberley region of Western Australia Cambridge Gulf {{WesternAustralia-river-stub