Mount Augustus Station is an

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

. It is situated about south west of Paraburdoo and north west of Meekatharra in the

Gascoyne The Gascoyne region is one of the nine administrative regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northwest of Western Australia, and consists of the local government areas of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay and Upper Gascoyne. The Gasc ...

region. The Upper Lyons River and

Frederick River The Frederick River is a river that is located in the Gascoyne and Pilbara regions of Western Australia. The headwaters of the river rise in the Kenneth Range. The river flows in a south-westerly direction, joined by one minor tributary until i ...

both run through the property, and the lease area once included Mount Augustus, which is claimed to be the largest

monocline A monocline (or, rarely, a monoform) is a step-like fold in rock strata consisting of a zone of steeper dip within an otherwise horizontal or gently-dipping sequence. Formation Monoclines may be formed in several different ways (see diagram) * ...

in the world. The property shares a border with

Cobra Station Cobra Station is a pastoral lease and sheep station located in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. Description The station is situated approximately south west of Paraburdoo, Western Australia, Paraburdoo and north west of Meekatharra ...

. The station was established in 1887 by Samuel James Phillips and John Hughes Phillips. In the early days of settlement the settlers suffered from constant attacks by the

Indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

. In 1892 the station store was attacked and ransacked and a worker at the property was speared. A

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

started in the area in 1893, following reports of a good find. The reports proved to be exaggerated, with gold only to be found in a small area and the field was labeled a "duffer" and the diggers moved elsewhere. In 1895 the station was owned by the Western Australian Mortgage and Agency Company and managed by Chas Mitchell. The property was put up for

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

in 1898, advertised as comprising of prime fattening country suitable for carrying a herd of 5,000 cattle. The sale included 1,500 head of cattle and 70 horses. The following year J. Phillips and Company owned the property along with

Jimba Jimba Station Jimba Jimba Station, most often referred to as Jimba Jimba, is a pastoral lease currently operating as a cattle station in Western Australia, that once operated as a sheep station. The property is situated near Gascoyne Junction, Western Austr ...

. The property was being managed by one of the partners, Phil Ryan. By 1909 the property was reported as having 10,000 head of cattle with the land in good condition following better than average rains. Following the death of one of the partners in the company, Hugh Douglas Phillips, in 1921. The property was put up for auction again in 1923. It was advertised as encompassing an area of one million acres, and was stocked with 4,500 cattle. Stock could be watered by one of the 5 wells or by the Lyons, Frederick or Kurabukka River, which had two permanent pools. In 2012 the owners of the station were the Hammarquist family. The family also operate the Mt Augustus Tourist Park, which offers accommodation, fuel and supplies to visitors. The property has thousands of tourists visit each year.

References

{{Stations of the Gascoyne Western Australia Stations (Australian agriculture) Pastoral leases in Western Australia Shire of Upper Gascoyne 1887 establishments in Australia

See also

References