Mount Baga (formerly Mount Jim Crow) is a

trachyte Trachyte () is an extrusive igneous rock composed mostly of alkali feldspar. It is usually light-colored and aphanitic (fine-grained), with minor amounts of mafic minerals, and is formed by the rapid cooling of lava enriched with silica and al ...

plug that lies between

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. The population of Rockhampton in June 2021 was 79,967, Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. making it the fourth-largest city in the state outside of t ...

and

Yeppoon Yeppoon is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Livingstone, Queensland, Australia. Yeppoon is renowned for its beaches, tropical climate, and the islands out on the bay. Located from the city of Rockhampton, Yeppoon is the seat of th ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. Standing at approximately 150 m above the surrounding plains (221 m above sea level), Mount Baga affords a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape. Mount Wheeler (now Mount Gai-i) can be seen to the southeast, while many other trachyte formations can be seen to the north and west. Well covered by trees and scrub, Mount Baga has no signed walking trails and climbing up the slopes is not recommended. The surface consists mostly of broken shale rock. There are several small but sheer cliffs, mostly on the southeastern face, which can be clearly seen from the Capricorn Highway. Mount Baga holds a significance to the Darumbal Aboriginal people and its creation is told in a Dreaming legend: In the Dreamtime long ago, a boy and a girl from the tribe fell in love and wanted to marry. The old people were distraught as it was against the tribal code to marry someone from the same totem. The couple took no notice, running away to hide in the flat scrub of what is now Mount Baga. The

Rainbow Serpent The Rainbow Serpent or Rainbow Snake is a common deity often seen as the creator God, known by numerous names in different Australian Aboriginal languages by the many different Aboriginal peoples. It is a common motif in the art and religion ...

(named Munda-Gadda in the local dialect), sitting up on Mount Gai-i (to the south-east) saw the dilemma and decided to intervene. He spun himself around between the girl and boy with such force, bringing up trees and dirt until a mountain appeared separating the couple. His powers frightened the couple and from then on they abided by the tribal code. The mountain's name caused controversy due to the fact it most likely is named after the US

Jim Crow laws The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the S ...

, although the circumstances in which this name was applied to the mountain are unclear. For these reasons and to better reflect the importance of the mountain to the Darumbal people, the name was changed to Mount Baga.

References

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sou ...

Rockhampton Racism in Australia {{CentralQueensland-geo-stub

See also

References