Cuttaburra is a rural

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivi ...

in the

Shire of Paroo The Shire of Paroo is a local government area in South West Queensland, Australia. The administrative centre is the town of Cunnamulla. The Paroo Shire covers an area of . In the , the Shire had a population of 1,679. The region incorporates ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. In the , Cuttaburra had a population of 10 people.

Geography

Cuttaburra Creek is a tributary of the

Warrego River The Warrego River is an intermittent river that is part of the Darling catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, which is located in South West Queensland and in the Orana region of New South Wales, Australia. The Warrego River is the north ...

, joining it south of

Cunnamulla Cunnamulla () is a town and a locality in the Shire of Paroo, Queensland, Australia. It is south of Charleville, and approximately west of the state capital, Brisbane. In the , Cunnamulla had a population of 1,140 people. Geography Cunnamul ...

. The creek forms the north-east boundary of the locality. The southern boundary of the locality is the

border of Queensland Queensland is the north-eastern state of Australia and has land borders with three other Australian states and territories: New South Wales (to the south), South Australia (to the south-west) and Northern Territory (to the west). To the north of ...

with

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

( latitude 29 South). The Binya National Park is located within the locality on the south-western boundary. In 1916,

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, alt ...

and

palaeontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

Robert Etheridge described the area as having "shifting" sand hills and

claypan Claypan is a dense, compact, slowly permeable layer in the subsoil. It has a much higher clay content than the overlying material, from which it is separated by a sharply defined boundary. The dense structure restricts root growth and water infiltr ...

s. The shifting sand hills were of colours that varied by colour from a yellowish tint to a deep brick red and were up to 50 feet in height. He observed that the wind drove these shifting sand hills along over time. He said that the claypans were:

"shallow depressions, more or less oval or circular in outline, large or small, distributed throughout the red soil country, treeless, often bearing a copious growth of grass, particularly
cane grass Canegrass, cane-grass or cane grass is a common name which may refer to the following plants in the family Poaceae: * ''Eragrostis australasica'' – Swamp Canegrass * ''Eragrostis infecunda'' – Southern Canegrass * ''Zygochloa paradoxa ''Zy ...
and various kinds of salt-bush. These pans are water-bearing in wet seasons, but otherwise dry, and in flood time many of them, no doubt, communicate with one another. Of this nature appears to be the Cuttaburra branch of the Paroo River, an indescribable flat and weird surface of great extent."

History

The Cuttaburra Creek is shown on an 1872 map of Queensland. The locality name is believed to derive from the creek name and is thought to be an

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

word. In some

Aboriginal languages the word ''burra'' means ''hill ants''. Cuttaburra Provisional School opened in 1899 and closed circa 1906. In the , Cuttaburra had a population of 10 people.

References

External links

{{Shire of Paroo Shire of Paroo Localities in Queensland