The Rufus River Massacre was a massacre of 30–40 Aboriginal people that took place in 1841 along the
Rufus River, in the Central Murray region, after three consecutive ambushes with "
overlanders" (stock drovers) on the recently opened overland
stock route
A stock route, also known as travelling stock route (TSR), is an authorised thoroughfare for the walking of domestic livestock such as sheep or cattle from one location to another in Australia. The stock routes across the country are colloquially ...
, which followed an old Aboriginal route. The massacre occurred after an official party, including
Protector of Aborigines
The role of Protector of Aborigines was first established in South Australia in 1836.
The role became established in other parts of Australia pursuant to a recommendation contained in the ''Report of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Abori ...
,
Matthew Moorhouse
Matthew Moorhouse (1813 – 29 March 1876) was an English Settler, pioneer in Australia, Pastoralism, pastoralist, politician, and Protector of Aborigines in South Australia. He was in charge of the armed party that murdered 30-40 Maraura people ...
, along with police, was sent out by the
Governor of South Australia
The governor of South Australia is the representative in South Australia of the Monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. The governor performs the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-gene ...
,
George Grey
Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Go ...
.
Background
The short
Rufus River connects
Lake Victoria, New South Wales with the
Murray River
The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest r ...
, very close to both the current borders with
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 ...
to the south and
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 ...
to the west.
The local
Maraura
The Maraura or Marrawarra people are an Aboriginal group whose traditional lands are located in Far West New South Wales and South Australia, Australia.
Language
The Maraura spoke the southernmost dialect of Paakantyi. A wordlist of the languag ...
people probably had their first encounter with Europeans when
Charles Sturt
Charles Napier Sturt (28 April 1795 – 16 June 1869) was a British officer and explorer of Australia, and part of the European exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, starting from Sydney and la ...
travelled down the river in 1830. There is no record of other Europeans in the region until
overlanders Joseph Hawdon
Joseph Hawdon (14 November 1813 – 12 April 1871) was a pioneer settler and overlander of Australia, and pioneer and politician of New Zealand.
Early life
Hawdon was born at Wackerfield, Durham, England, the son of John Hawdon. At the suggest ...
and
Charles Bonney
Charles Bonney (31 October 1813 – 15 March 1897) was a pioneer and politician in Australia.
Early life
Bonney was the youngest son of the Rev. George Bonney, a fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge, and his wife Susanna, née Knight. He was born ...
drove 335 cattle from
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
to
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
along the Murray River in 1838.
Edward Eyre
Edward John Eyre (5 August 181530 November 1901) was an English land explorer of the Australian continent, colonial administrator, and Governor of Jamaica.
Early life
Eyre was born in Whipsnade, Bedfordshire, shortly before his family moved to ...
and Sturt followed this
stock route
A stock route, also known as travelling stock route (TSR), is an authorised thoroughfare for the walking of domestic livestock such as sheep or cattle from one location to another in Australia. The stock routes across the country are colloquially ...
, and by April 1841 at least 36 European parties had travelled the track, bringing with them about 480 people, 90,000 sheep and 15,000 cattle, as well as horses,
bullocks,
drays and goods into Aboriginal territories. The route followed well-established Aboriginal pathways, and various skirmishes were reported as the Europeans travelled through the region.
[ Burke H., Roberts A., Morrison M., Sullivan V., The River Murray and Mallee Aboriginal Corporation (2016),]
The space of conflict: Aboriginal/European interactions and frontier violence on the western Central Murray, South Australia, 1830–41
, ''Aboriginal History
''Aboriginal History'' is an annual Peer review, peer-reviewed academic journal published as an open access journal by Aboriginal History Inc. It was established in 1977 (co-founded and edited by Diane Barwick) and covers interdisciplinary histo ...
'', 40: 145-179.
Conflicts
On 16 April 1841 a group of 11 overlanders, led by
Henry Inman, with 5,000 sheep, was attacked on the banks of the river about east of
Lake Bonney. Two of the party were killed and one injured. A group of volunteers, including a member of the original party, Henry Field, set out to recover the sheep on 7 May. They too were attacked.
[
Governor Grey swore in a batch of special constables under the jurisdiction of Major Thomas O’Halloran and the Protector of Aborigines, Matthew Moorhouse.] A large party of men, including police under the command of James Rigby Beevor, left Adelaide on 31 May. They met up with another group of overlanders, led by Alfred Langhorne, on 22 June, who had been attacked two days earlier at the Rufus River. Four Europeans and five Aboriginal people had been killed, with two and about ten injured in each group respectively.[
]
Massacre
Another official party, including police, three Aboriginal people and Moorhouse, again left for the Murray in July 1841, meeting up in August with another group of overlanders, led by William Robinson, who had earlier been attacked. In that conflict, no Europeans had been hurt, but five Aboriginal men had been killed and 10 wounded. Coming across a large group of local men and women near Lake Victoria, Moorhouse and two others became involved in another clash, despite Moorhouse’s attempts to negotiate through interpreters.[ According to Moorhouse's report later sent to Grey, "nearly 30" Aboriginal people were killed, "about 10" wounded and four captured and four (one man, one boy, and two females) taken prisoner.][ Tolmer A. (1882), ]
Reminiscences of an Adventurous and Chequered Career at Home and at the Antipodes—Vol. I
', chap. 20 (London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington). A large majority of the wounded would be expected to die from their wounds, because Aboriginal medicine was ill-equipped to deal with gunshot wounds. Only one European was wounded.[
A subsequent enquiry headed by Sturt questioned the participants, including the Aboriginal interpreter and one of the captives, but eventually declared that the actions of the European parties had been justifiable.][ It determined original cause of much of the trouble with the Robinson group was the Europeans engaging in sexual relations with the women without giving the food and clothing promised first.] That initiated an escalating cycle of conflicts, which eventually included the Aboriginal groups stealing thousands of European sheep.[Coulthard-Clark C. (2001), "Rufus River", ''Encyclopaedia of Australia's Battles'' (]Allen & Unwin
George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It went on to become one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and to establish an ...
). Moorhouse testified that about 150 Aborigines appeared to be readying to attack, and that the massacre was committed to pre-empt such an attack.
Moorhouse's report was disputed by Robinson, who stated that "thirty to forty were killed, and as many wounded",[Fatal Affray With The Natives In South Australia: Report of Mr. Moorhouse to His Excellency the Governor]
, '' Port Phillip Patriot and Melbourne Advertiser'', 14 October 1841, p. 2 - via Trove
Trove is an Australian online library database owned by the National Library of Australia in which it holds partnerships with source providers National and State Libraries Australia, an aggregator and service which includes full text document ...
. and later by James Collins Hawker
James Collins Hawker (1821-1901) was an English-born explorer, surveyor, diarist and pastoralist of South Australia, aide-de-camp to Governor George Gawler, and subsequently Comptroller of H.M. Customs at Port Adelaide.
Early life
Hawker was ...
, who wrote in his book ''Early Experiences in South Australia'' (1899: p. 79): "The firing lasted about fifteen minutes, 30 natives were killed, 10 wounded and 4 taken prisoner ... This was the Protector's report but in after years when I was residing on the Murray and had learnt the language of the natives, I ascertained that a much larger number had been killed..."
See also
* Australian frontier wars
*List of massacres of Indigenous Australians
Numerous clashes involving Indigenous people (on the continent "Australia") occurred during and after a wave of mass immigration of Europeans into the continent, which began in the late 18th century and lasted until the early 20th century. The ...
* ''Maria'' (brigantine)
References
Further reading
* "Papers Relative To The Affairs Of South Australia—Aborigines", ''Accounts and Papers 1843''
Volume 3
(London: William Clowes and Sons), p. 267-310.
*
Fatal recontre with the Murray natives
, ''South Australian Register
''The Register'', originally the ''South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register'', and later ''South Australian Register,'' was South Australia's first newspaper. It was first published in London in June 1836, moved to Adelaide in 1837, and f ...
'', p. 2, 11 September 1841. his_report_is_also_available_via_Trovebr>his report is also available via Trovebr>Trove.html" ;"title="his report is also available via Trove">his report is also available via Trovebr>
]
* .
* .
* .
* Clyne R. (1981), "At war with the natives: From the Coorong to the Rufus, 1841", ''Journal of the Historical Society of South Australia'', 9: 91-110.
* Edward John Eyre, Eyre E.J. (1845), ''Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia, and overland from Adelaide to King George's Sound, in the years 1840-41, sent by the Colonists of Australia, with the sanction and support of the Government; including an Account of the Manners and Customs of the Aborigines, and the state of their relations with Europeans''
Volume I
an
Volume II
(London: T. and W. Boone). Republished by Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press
A university press is an academic publishing hou ...
(2011).
* Mattingley C., Hampton K. (1988), ''Survival in Our Own Land'', p. 38-40.
* Nettlebeck A. (1999), "Mythologising frontier: Narrative versions of the Rufus River conflict, 1841‐1899", ''Journal of Australian Studies'', 23: 75-82; .
*.
* Sturt C. (1849),
Narrative of an Expedition into Central Australia
', p. 92 (London: T. and W. Boone).
* Summers J. (1986), "Colonial race relations", ''The Flinders History of South Australia: social history'' (editor – E. Richards), p. 283-311 ( Wakefield Press).
* Watson F. (1924), ''Historical Records of Australia
The ''Historical Records of Australia'' (''HRA'') were collected and published by the Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament, to create a series of accurate publications on the history of Australia. The records begin shortly before 1788, ...
—Series I''
Volume XXI (October 1840 – March 1842)
p. 695-701 (Sydney: Library Committee of the Commonwealth Parliament). Lord_Stanley_
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Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the en ...