The Palmer River is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

located in Far North

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 , establishe ...

, Australia. The area surrounding the river was the site of a

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...

in the late 19th century which started in 1873.

Course and features

The headwaters of the Palmer River rise in the Sussex Range, part of the Great Dividing Range southwest of

Cooktown Cooktown is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Cook, Queensland, Australia. Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repai ...

. The river is formed by the confluence of the Prospect Creek and Campbell Creek, near Palmer River Roadhouse, south of Lakeland. The Palmer River flows west across the

Cape York Peninsula Cape York Peninsula is a large peninsula located in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is the largest unspoiled wilderness in northern Australia.Mittermeier, R.E. et al. (2002). Wilderness: Earth’s last wild places. Mexico City: Agrupació ...

towards the Gulf of Carpentaria joined by 29

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainag ...

including the South Palmer River, Little Palmer River and North Palmer River, before reaching its confluence with the Mitchell River northeast of Staaten River National Park. The river descends over its course and has a

catchment area In human geography, a catchment area is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...

of .

History

Aboriginal history

'' Yalanji'' (also known as ''Kuku Yalanji'', ''Kuku Yalaja'', ''Kuku Yelandji'', and ''Gugu Yalanji)'' is an Australian Aboriginal language of Far North Queensland. The traditional language region is

Mossman River The Mossman River is a river located in the Cape York Peninsula of Far North Queensland, Australia. The headwaters of the river rise under Devils Thumb on the Mount Carbine Tableland in the Great Dividing Range. The river flows through a dee ...

in the south to the

Annan River The Annan River ( Kuku Nyungkal: ''Yuku Baja'') is a river located in the Wet Tropics of Far North Queensland, Australia. Course and features The river rises in the Yorkey Range below Mount Romeo near , north-northwest of . The river flows g ...

in the north, bordered by the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

in the east and extending inland to west of Mount Mulgrave. This includes the local government boundaries of the

Shire of Douglas The Shire of Douglas is a local government area in Far North Queensland. It is located on the coast north of the city of Cairns. The shire, administered from the town of Mossman, covers an area of , and existed as a local government entity f ...

, the

Shire of Cook The Shire of Cook (The Shire) is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia. The Shire covers most of the eastern and central parts of Cape York Peninsula, the most northerly section of the Australian mainland. It covers an area ...

and the

Aboriginal Shire of Wujal Wujal The Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire is a local government area in Far North Queensland, Australia. It is managed as a Deed of Grant in Trust under the ''Local Government (Community Government Areas) Act 2004''. Geography It is on the east coast of ...

and the towns and localities of

, Mossman, Daintree,

Cape Tribulation Cape Tribulation is a headland and coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas in northern Queensland, Australia. In the , Cape Tribulation had a population of 118 people. Geography The locality is north of Cairns. It is within the Daintree Na ...

and

Wujal Wujal Wujal Wujal is a rural town and locality in the Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire, Queensland, Australia. In the , Wujal Wujal had a population of 282 people. It is an Aboriginal community. The community of Wujal Wujal is located in the Cape York ...

. It includes the head of the Palmer River, the

Bloomfield River The Bloomfield River is a river located in the Wet Tropics of Far North Queensland, Australia, noted for its Bloomfield River cod fish species, found only in the river. Course and features The river rises in the Great Dividing Range below Zi ...

China Camp China Camp State Park is a state park in Marin County, California, surrounding a historic Chinese American shrimp-fishing village and a salt marsh. The park is located in San Rafael, California, on the shore of San Pablo Bay. It is known for ...

, Maytown, and Palmerville.

Palmer River Goldfields

Palmer River was one of Australia's major

locations.

William Hann William Hann (26 February 1837 – 5 April 1889) was a pastoralist and explorer in northern Queensland, Australia. His expedition in 1872 found the first indications of the Palmer River goldfield. Early life He was born in Wiltshire, England, ...

and geologist Norman Taylor found gold in a sandy bed of the river in 1872. Hann named the river after

Arthur Hunter Palmer Sir Arthur Hunter Palmer (28 December 1819 – 20 March 1898) was an Irish-Australian politician who served as the fifth Premier of Queensland, in office from 1870 to 1874. He later held ministerial office in Thomas McIlwraith's ministry from ...

the Premier of Queensland at that time. In 1873, access to the goldfields was established by Archibald Campbell MacMillan who led an expedition of 110 diggers, police and officials which blazed a trail from the port of

to the Palmer River. They "shot a lot" and "hunted" Aboriginal people along the way at the

Normanby River The Normanby River, comprising the East Normanby River, the West Normanby River, the East Normanby River North Branch, the East Normanby River South Branch and the Granite Normanby River, is a river system located in Far North Queensland, Aust ...

, Kennedy River, Kavanaugh Creek, St George River and at Battle Camp. At Battle Camp, a large group of Aboriginal men approached MacMillan's camp yelling a war cry, but were forced back by gunfire, some of whom fell. The expedition members then pursued them to a lagoon where many more were shot. Two Aboriginal women and three children were brought back to the camp by the diggers after one of the shootings, where they had in their possession a number of items from a digger who had supposedly been killed. A later government enquiry into the events found that the diggers acted in self defence and were justified in their actions. The main settlement of the gold field was Maytown replacing Palmerville after some months. The settlement began as a camp in 1873, then grew into a town which served as the administration centre for the former Hann Local Government Area. The settlements of Byerstown and Idatown were also established along the river. Palmerville Post Office opened on 11 May 1874 (closed 1965); Maytown Post Office opened on 7 June 1874 (closed 1945); Byerstown Post Office opened on 1 April 1876 (closed around 1884). There were many other confrontations between the Anglo-Australian diggers, Chinese miners and the Aborigines from the area after ''Battle Camp''. From 1874 until 1877 more than 20,000 Chinese immigrants arrived at the river. The

miners A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

in the Palmer River included

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

, mostly from the Guangdong Province in southern China. The Chinese miners would re-work the diggings of Europeans as they moved on to find richer diggings. In 1876, with the rush to the Hodgkinson River, Chinese miners occupied most of the Palmer Gold Field. As gold reserves were extracted, anti-Chinese sentiment grew. The Queensland government eventually responded to the influx with a poll tax of £10 according to the ''Chinese Immigration Regulation Act 1877''. Although most of the surface gold has long since been prospected, there remain a handful of deeper mine projects in the area.

References

{{Rivers of Queensland , state=autocollapse Rivers of Far North Queensland Australian gold rushes Great Dividing Range

Course and features

History

Aboriginal history

Palmer River Goldfields

See also

References