Murgoo Station is a pastoral lease and

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 ...

located in the

Mid West The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

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 ...

. Situated approximately to the north of Yalgoo and to the west of Cue, the station has an area of and consists of

saltbush 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. ...

plains and mulga country, with an elevation of approximately above sea level. The station was established in 1873 by

Edward Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

and

Frank Wittenoom Francis "Frank" Frederick Burdett Wittenoom (17 December 185511 September 1939) was an explorer and pastoralist in Western Australia. Biography Early life Frank Wittenoom was born in York, Western Australia in 1855.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 ...

at the current site. In 1891 the Wittenooms sold the property to Richard Holmes and H. Maloney. Holmes later sold his share to Maloney who ran the station until his death in 1903. The station was on the market in 1905 and had a flock of 19,000 sheep, 500 cattle and 55 horses. There were many shallow wells and 23

windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called windmill sail, sails or blades, specifically to mill (grinding), mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and ...

s. Divided into 15 large sheep paddocks, one large cattle paddock and ten smaller paddocks for horses or other stock, the station was sold later that same year to agents of Charles Atkins for the sum of £23,200. The Atkins imported

Merino The Merino is a breed or group of breeds of domestic sheep, characterised by very fine soft wool. It was established in Spain near the end of the Middle Ages, and was for several centuries kept as a strict Spanish monopoly; exports of the bree ...

rams to the station from

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

in 1908. In 1918, the Atkins sold off 298 rams from the property. From 1919 the station was being managed by R. W. Fremlin, who steadily improved the property's situation. The property contained between 60 and 70 windmills by 1928 and had of five and six strand fencing erected. Fremlin retired from managing Murgoo and other Atkins Brothers holdings, including

Mount Narryer Mount Narryer is a mountain in Western Australia. It is located about north of Yalgoo and north east of Kalbarri in the Mid West region of Western Australia. Situated along the Murchison River, the mountain is surrounded by mulga scrubl ...

and

Tibradden Station Tibradden or Tibradden Station is a pastoral lease that currently operates as a cattle station and had previously operated as a sheep station. It is located about north east of Greenough and east of Geraldton in the Mid West region of West ...

, in the 1930s and moved to Mullewa where he died in 1954, aged 80. The combined properties run by Fremlin ran over 40,000 sheep and routinely produced 1200–1400 bales of wool per year. During the 1920s the station would often transport

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

for export by truck; the journey would take two days. 20,000 sheep were shorn in 1920, increasing to 28,000 in 1922 then following a

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 ...

only 23,000 in 1924. In 1924 the Atkins also sold 5,000

wethers Wethers is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Brian Wethers (born 1980), American basketball player * Doris L. Wethers (1927–2019), American pediatrician See also *Grey Wethers, two neolithic sites in England *Wether (disambigu ...

to Mr. McKenna of Carlaminda station at 42s. per head. This was a record sale at the time. By 1926 over 31,000 sheep were clipped and in 1927 the station shore 32,000 producing over 900

bales Bales is the surname of: * Alison Bales (born 1985), American basketball player * Barry Bales (born 1969), American musician * Billy Bales (born 1929), British former motorcycle speedway racer * Burt Bales (1917–1989), American jazz pianist * ...

of wool. In 1928 the station was owned still by the Aitken Brothers, who were originally from

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 station also sold off 21,000 sheep from both Murgoo and the adjoining Mt. Narryer station, which was also owned by the brothers. The current lessee is Reginald Seaman, Murgoo is operating under the Crown Lease number CL573-1966 and has the Land Act number LA3114/578. The Seaman family have been on the property since 1974 and in 2010 had to take the drastic step of destocking the property as a result of severe drought. Murgoo had below average winter rainfall between 2000 and 2010, receiving only of rain in 2010.

Races

In 1915, Charles Atkins decided to hold a race meeting in the area to "liven things up a bit". The first race was held in 1917 at Manfred Station, approximately 75 miles from Murgoo, which at the time was owned by

Frank Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curre ...

and

Edward Wittenoom Sir Edward Horne Wittenoom Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG (12 February 1854 – 5 March 1936) was an Australian politician who served intermittently in the Western Australian Legislative Council, Legislative Cou ...

. Races were held at Manfred until 1920 when the Murgoo Picnic Race Club was formed in 1920. A race track was made and Atkins made use of the shearing shed as a clubroom and for the race ball. In the early days women were only allowed in the clubroom when invited by a member and always received

champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

as a refreshment. Two day meets were held from 1920 to 1929 and then halted over the course of the

Great depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and a couple of years of

before resuming in 1935. During World War II the Murchison

Patriotic Funds World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Committee took over and ran the race biannually, and normal race meets resumed again in 1947. No meetings were held in the

years of 1950, 1951, 1955 and 1956, but were run regularly since until at least 1963. No

bookmaker A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays off bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds. History The first bookmaker, Ogden, stood at Newmarket in 1795. Range of events Bookma ...

s were allowed on the course and all

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

s were station hands and overseers.

References

{{Stations of the Mid West Western Australia Homesteads in Western Australia Shire of Murchison Stations in the Mid West (Western Australia) 1873 establishments in Australia