Multuggerah was an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

leader and resistance fighter of the

Ugarapul The Jagera people, also written Yagarr, Yaggera, and other variants, are the Australian Aboriginal people who spoke the Yuggera language. The Yuggera language which encompassed a number of dialects was spoken by the traditional owners of the te ...

nation from the

Lockyer Valley The Lockyer Valley is an area of rich farmlands that lies to the west of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and east of Toowoomba. The Lockyer Valley is rated among the top ten most fertile farming areas in the world, and the intensively cultiv ...

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_ ...

. He was an important warrior and negotiator, bringing numerous Aboriginal

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

s together in an armed resistance against the

99th (Lanarkshire) Regiment of Foot The 99th (Lanarkshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1824. It amalgamated with the 62nd (Wiltshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Duke of Edinburgh's (Wiltshire Regiment) in 1881. History Formation The ...

squatters Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

and the squatters' servants and other workers in the 1840s.

Resistance

From 1841 over the course of decades, 1200 Aboriginal warriors in the

Colony of New South Wales The Colony of New South Wales was a colony of the British Empire from 1788 to 1901, when it became a State of the Commonwealth of Australia. At its greatest extent, the colony of New South Wales included the present-day Australian states of New ...

in the Lockyer Valley area (which became part of the

Colony of Queensland The Colony of Queensland was a colony of the British Empire from 1859 to 1901, when it became a State in the federal Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901. At its greatest extent, the colony included the present-day State of Queensland, ...

from 1859), were opposed by, amongst others, the 99th (Lanarkshire) Regiment of Foot. Intermittent conflict continued on into the 1850s and 1860s. The line of settlement was held back by 15 years of armed conflict. Multeggerah's tactics included road blocks made from felled trees, and setting an ambush site on a steep hill and in amongst bogs and heavy scrub. Multeggerah was said by some to have lived to old age; but possibly died in 1846 as part of the continuing conflict.

Battle of One Tree Hill

The mass poisoning at Kilcoy Station instigated a strengthening of resistance activity. Multeggerah organised ambushes of the supply drays on their way up the escarpment from the coast; "He had sent word to the Europeans, warning them not to come through." In September 1843 an armed convoy of three drays with a crew of 18 was stopped and turned back. A counter attack against the Aboriginal battle group by more than 30 squatters and their servants was also turned back from the high ground by the use of spears and thrown rocks.

Legacy

The

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

on the

Warrego Highway The Warrego Highway is located in southern Queensland, Australia. It connects coastal centres to the south western areas of the state, and is approximately 715 km in length. It takes its name from the Warrego River, which is the endpoint ...

section of the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing was named in honour of Multuggerah.

Resistance

Battle of One Tree Hill

Legacy

See also

References

Further reading