MYTHS AND FALLACIES:

  STURT TREE     SPRINGCART GULLY     STURT CANNON     BEDSTEAD GRAVE  

EPITAPH TO A GRAND OLD TREE, WHICH ENDURED THE RAVAGES OF MURRAY FLOODS FOR A THOUSAND YEARS AND SURVIVED TO INSPIRE THE NOSTALGIC AND NATIONALISTIC EMOTIONS OF A GENERATION OF SOUTH AUSTRALIANS, WHO CAME TO KNOW IT AFFECTIONATELY AS

"STURT TREE".

Following a newspaper article in The Advertiser, Adelaide, Saturday October 12, 1996; - Relating to the 'thoughtless' burning of the historic "Sturt Tree" near Chowilla Station north of Renmark. - Two Letters to The Editor appeared on Monday October 14:

1. Freer Venables of Renmark wrote; - Today I shed tears, not for any human, but for a tree. Sturt's tree has stood dead for many years on the bank of the River Murray, upstream from Murtho, above Renmark. Even in death, it still towered far above the other trees. Surely as Captain Charles Sturt came down the river, he would have seen it standing head and shoulders above the rest. - When the Murray Explorer, then later the Murray Princess, travelled upstream, passengers alighted to inspect the canoe-shape carved out of it and gaze upwards at the height. - I have gazed at this tree on many occasions and wondered about the stories it could tell. I had great plans to bring my grandchildren to see this tree. Sadly I can never do this now, as on the holiday weekend people on a catamaran (ed. houseboat) built a fire which in turn caught the tree alight. As I write, it is still burning, even though two days have passed. - I know that when I see it again there will be nothing left, all I have are memories. Shame on you, holidaymakers.
   
2. Terry Webb of Stepney wrote; - Every year, since 1988, my wife and I have celebrated our anniversary with a houseboating trip to Renmark. Our trips always included a stop at the magnificent (river red gum) canoe tree. We had hoped that our young son would one day be able to see this historic marvel. - Many thanks to the inconsiderate fools who sent that hope up in smoke.

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"The Sturt Tree" was located almost directly at the old 379ml mark, and stood on the north bank 4.8Km downstream from Chowilla Station woolshed on what is known as Little Hunchee Island, which is formed by an anabranch of the main stream; - In addition to its status as an "Aboriginal Bark Canoe Tree" renown for its uncommonly large "scar". Its trunk also bore alpha-numeric symbols, which local folklore attributed to the Charles Sturt exploratory voyage of 1829/30.

Though the connection with Captain Charles Sturt makes for great folklore, unfortunately, it does not stand-up well under scrutiny. Viz;

CHARLES STURT'S 1929/30 EXPLORATION OF THE MURRAY; - AS STURT & OTHERS RECORD IT.

Extracts from "Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia" - 1834; (Second Volume) - published by Charles Napier Sturt, (the man himself): -

26th.January 1830; The country today is extremely low, full of lagoons and thickly inhabited by natives (Pg125); - 11am on right bank of the Murray encountered junction of a small river coming from the North, named it the Rufus. Not many miles below the Rufus, passed under a lofty cliff on the same side as it (Pg127/8) [the Rainbow Cliffs at old Devils Elbow; the river bypasses them now, to see them as Sturt saw them you need a canoe and hiking boots]. - In evening began rain, wind and storms, until about 7am on 27th.
27th.January 1830; Passed two very considerable junctions, one coming from the S'East, the other from the North. The former falls into the Murray almost directly opposite some elevation. Named it the Lindesay; - 140º29'E 33º58'S (Pg130) - [Sturt's sextant "fixes" were a little inaccurate. Like 45Km inaccurate, and his spelling was a little rustic too. But his hand-drawn chart of this junction bears an unmistakeable similarity to modern-day charts of the Lindsay Junction].
 ... PARTY ARE NOW HEADING INTO IN THE "STURT TREE" PRECINCT; ... 
28th.January 1830; Weather been tempestuous and rainy for 3 to 4 days. This morning it cleared a little, but we had not proceeded far when it again commenced to rain and blow heavily; river tended to the South. Country to the West is low and bushy, and the left bank extremely lofty, occasionally rising to 100 feet perpendicular from the water [location; the Border Cliffs to Heading Cliff section]; Stopped and pitched tents, evening proved extremely dark. Around midnight it blew and rained fiercely. Towards morning wind moderated and rain ceased (Pg134). - [This is the night on which "The Tree" was supposedly carved].
29th.January 1830; The river inclined very much southwards for some miles below our last camp [description suggests a campsite located near Woolenook Bend rather than on Little Hunchee Island]. Met largest native tribe and friendliest. At length the river struck against some elevations that turned it more Westward. Before we terminated our day's pull it again changed direction to eastward of south. The right bank became lofty and the left proportionally depressed (Pg135/6) [location; North Renmark to Loxton section]. The appearance of the country through which was passed, this day, was far from being such as to encourage us with hopes of any change for the better, the river was enclosed on either side, it almost appeared, as if the plain had been rent asunder to allow of a passage for its waters (Pg137).
31st.January 1830; To my mortification, the river held so much to the Northward, that we undid almost all our Southing; What, with its regular turns and extensive sweeps, the Murray covers treble the ground, at a moderate computation, that it would occupy in a direct course (Pg138) [location; Loxton to Kingston/Lock 3# section].

The party continued on to Lake Alexandria and Encounter Bay where they stayed only briefly. ... On the return trip they were blessed with fortuitous winds for several days and 'sailed' all the way up river to about the "Walker Flat"/"Big Bend" region. Thereafter, it was 'hard rowing' against the current.

25th.February 1830; Passed the last of the cliffs composed of fossil beds and entered the low country, already described as being immediately above it [passed Kingston and 'entered' the Moorook to Loxton section].
 ... PARTY ARE ONCE AGAIN WITHIN THE "STURT TREE" PRECINCT - AND AGAIN - NO MENTION OF ANY TREE MARKING; ... 
30th.February 1830 (sic); (Sturt forgot February only has 28 days). Fatigue affecting the party. Rowed for 11 successive hours. Men fall asleep at their oars. Repassed the Lindesay (Pg195) [They're well upriver passed the 'state border' region now].
1st.March 1830; Repassed the Rufus.

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ADDITIONAL RESEARCH;

In Charles Sturt's published account of his 1829/30 expedition; viz, "Two expeditions into the interior of Southern Australia" - Volume 2. - There is but one reference to "tree marking". It refers to a tree in the vicinity of the Murrumbidgee base camp, which Sturt and McLeay marked, purely as an indication to Clayton, the carpenter, that this was the tree they'd chosen to be "felled" for the purpose of boat building.

The original daily "log" or "diary" that Sturt wrote during his 1829/30 expedition is kept in Rhodes House Library, Oxford; although in some instances the Bodleian Library, Oxford; is also named as the repository. Whether these two names refer to the one Institution is not known.
The State Library of South Australia has acquired a microfilm copy of the Oxford documents (reference PR2). Unfortunately, Sturt's handwriting was abdominal and the photographic technique used in the copying has left a lot to be desired. The microfilmed diary does, however, include a series of interesting hand-drawn charts, by Sturt, of the Murray's twists and turns and, once you establish the sometimes-absent north orientation of these drawings, and disregard Sturt's longitude fixes, they are clearly recognisable when compared with modern-day survey maps of the 'Murray-land'. The text, however, is indecipherable and was of little use in this instance.

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NB - Others who, we known, transited the "Sturt Tree" region subsequent to Sturt's 1829/30 expedition, are: -

1. 1837 - Following Hawdon and Bonney's overland epic of 1837, hundreds of Overlanders, and travellers, passed this way on the nearby "Sydney Road". Edward John Eyre was amongst the earliest. Sturt himself overlanded cattle along this route in 1838.
2. 1841 - At least two "Punitive expeditions" transited the region on their way from Adelaide to Lake Victoria, to quell the aborigines. The later expedition resulting in the Rufus River Massacre of the 26th. & 27th. August 1841.
3. 1844 - Charles Sturt again transited the region, as he headed a party in search of the fabled "Inland Sea". They returned this way, in 1846, but they were in no condition to do any tree carving.
4. 1850 - Lieutenant Governor of SA, Sir H. E. F. Young, with friends, including the Surveyor General and ladies. Ascended the Murray to the Darling to assess the practicality of navigation - (Kinloch 1853).
5. 1852 - Pioneer steamboat navigator, Capt Francis Cadell, took a party to Swan Hill, constructed a crude craft of timber and canvas, and voyaged down The Murray to Wellington on a fact finding mission.
6. 1853 - The year the first steamboats travelled the Murray. The Chambers Brothers were already running Chowilla Station. The location of their homesteads, in close proximity to "The Tree", suggests the area was deemed to be tolerably accessible from the "Sydney Road". Any of Chowilla Station's myriad staff may have carved "The Tree".
7. 1853 (August) - As the Murray rose in flood, paddle steamers Mary Ann and Lady Augusta embarked on their maiden voyages. - In regards to the Mary Ann, it appears there is no surviving log or journal so only scant details of her voyage are known. - The Lady Augusta, however, is a very different matter. Thanks to the journal of James Allen Jnr., in spite of his propensity for overstatement, we have a very detailed account of that trip. Two details are of particular significance;

• i.. Wednesday, August 31; Passenger Mason, the Sub-Protector of Aborigines, who had hitherto travelled the river in his official capacity. Indicated to Allen, several trees on which he had previously carved numbers signifying the number of "days out" from Wellington. Mason was competent in small boats (Cutters) as well as on horseback, and it's not clear what sort of transport he'd used on his previous journeys. - Allen's account mentions "Mason's" trees as far upriver as Banrock Creek. "Sturt Tree" is a lot further upriver than that, but Mason's jurisdiction did extended to the SA border, which in those days was variously thought to be either the Lindsay or Rufus junction [410-437ml/m].
• ii.. Friday, September 2; at four o'clock p.m., "the Lady Augusta was hauled up by the side of the river, at a thickly-timbered spot, for the purpose of replenishing their stock of wood, which was nearly exhausted." - Systematic analysis of Allen's account, by persons with knowledge of the river, suggest this spot was somewhere between the 375ml and 380ml marks; i.e. in the region of "The Tree".
  Coincidentally, Allen describes how, four days earlier, on August 29th, near North-West Bend Station; - "As a means of amusement, we lit bonfires ashore in every direction around the ship, which we were able to do in rather a large way, from the abundance of fuel that was left over as waste by the wood cutters. The magnificent appearance of five or six bonfires, lit within twenty yards of each other - the flames towering up to fifty or sixty feet in height, and at times consuming whole trees under which the fuel had been places - may be imagined, as also the agreeable excitement it afforded to those engaged in the amusement." - According to Allen, this "amusement", was re-enacted on many more evenings during this voyage. (Ed; - I'm betting the aboriginals weren't especially amused.)

Thereafter, steamboats plied the river in ever increasing numbers.

However, using logic and the historic data herein contained. One can arrive at a number of basic deductions regarding the carved symbols on the tree known affectionately as "Sturt Tree": -

1. The perpetrator would've required a suitable implement, access to "Sturt Tree", and adequate spare time to carve it.
2. Persons transiting the region, to some distant destination, would have no reason to penetrate the many billabongs and backwaters to the mainstream, simply to obtain water for sustenance.
3. In view of No2 above. The perpetrator would, most likely, have arrived on site via water-borne transport.
4. From the people who, we know, travelled the area on water-borne transport. - In chronological order: -
   a... Sturt's party, in a whaleboat, travelled down-river, past "The Tree", during three to four days of tempestuous and rainy weather. They surely would've been more interested in keeping warm and dry, than in carving on trees. When they rowed back up-river, past "The Tree", they were all suffering from fatigue. "Falling asleep at the oars", was how Sturt described them. Not the sort of men likely to bother about carving trees.
   b... Sir Henry Young and friends ascended the Murray to the Darling to assess it for navigation. As near as we can tell. They travelled as far as the Rufus via horse drawn means. Then via a whaleboat or cutter, rowed by aboriginals, to the Darling. But these were highly literate individuals. Surely anything they carved would be readily decipherable. The markings on "Sturt's Tree" were the subject of diverse interpretation.
   c... Capt. Cadell came downriver from Swan Hill in a timber and canvas boat. But this was a prelude to the voyage of the Lady Augusta. Why blaze one tree, when a series of trees would be more useful, and, there is nothing particularly significant, navigation wise, about "The Tree's" location.
   d... The P S Mary Ann was the first steamer to travel this far up river. It's not clear where they tied up. So one of them could, possibly, have carved "The Tree". We do know W. R. Randell had a cutlass on board. However, we know they spent the previous day, Sunday, resting and recuperating at Chapman's Station (location; downstream of Paringa Bridge). So, logically, if they'd been inclined towards tree carving, surely they would have done it there.
   e...The P S Lady Augusta, we know, hauled-up in "The Tree" region to take on wood at 4-p.m. on Friday, September 2, 1853; and remained there for the night. Passengers amused themselves on the bank during these 3 to 4 hour "wooding" stops, while the crew cut and gathered up to 6 ton of firewood.
   
5. Thereafter, a veritable horde of steamers and barges invaded the Inland River System. By 1857 there were fifteen of them; and subsequent possibilities become too numerous to contemplate.
6. In regards to the Lady Augusta. We have a large number of people known to be in "The Tree" vicinity. They have heaps of spare time on their hands, and an abundance of cutting implements at their disposal. It was a mixed party, including social aristocracy, politicians, literate and semi-literate seamen and ex-cons., Pacific Islanders, Indians, Bengalese, Chinese. An ideal recipe for someone among them to do some tree carving.
7. At this point it becomes abundantly clear that, logically speaking, "The Tree" carver was someone from aboard the Lady Augusta.
8. Arthur Kinloch's account (circa 1853) of the Lady Augusta's "experimental" voyage includes a list of all forty-five personnel and crew who were aboard the steamer and the Eureka barge. The alphabetic symbols on the "Sturt Tree" coincide with none of them.
9. Lamentably, history attests to the fact that Homo Sapiens are renown for being aggravatingly illogical at times.

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About the symbols themselves; -There is a good photo of the controversial symbols in the booklet "RIVER BOAT TRAIL" by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, SA; (see below). -Basically they comprised four evenly spaced symbols which, at first glance, could be taken to read M E 2 0. But the bark only had been carved and the wood underneath bore only vague, indistinct gouge marks. A closer inspection, however, revealed that they were prefixed with, what appeared to be, a misshapen and less-obvious letter S. - -The M was widely splayed and fragmented, but is unlikely to be anything other. - -The 'supposed' E could equally well have been an A -B -F -H or 8. - -The 2 was the most distinct of all and it's hard to imagine it as anything other. - -The 0, though probably a zero, had its centre missing and could equally well have been the letter "Oh", or even a 9 or 6 with centres missing.
Author Phillip Smith, however, the perpetrator of the "Sturt" connection, chose the ME20 (Murray Expedition 20) interpretation to validate his theory, which was; - "From Sturt's published account we known the whaleboat journey started from the Murrumbidgee base-camp on the 7th January 1830. We also known they were in the "Chowilla" region on 28th January. Therefore the Sturt party marked this tree, indicating their 20th night out from base-camp;" ... While Mr Smith's credentials as an author are, no doubt, impeccable. We, regrettably, cannot say the same about his mathematics - e.g. in this instance, the whaleboat crew would've camped-out on the night of the 7th, so the 7th ought to be counted as 'camp 1#', it follows that 'camp 20#' would've been on the evening of 26 January. Notwithstanding, that in the traditional form of mathematics a 'starting point' is commonly assigned the value 'zero', in this instance that does not apply.

Anyway! Even if we ignore the fact that it was, arguably, the 22nd night out, Mr Smith's theory would be more creditable if the marks looked like they were 170-years old. But they don't! Likewise, if there was any other similarly marked tree along this, or any other routes, of the several expeditions led by Charles Sturt. But there are none! The tree at "Chowilla", allegedly marked to designate a one-night stopover, stood alone. - - But never-mind! If one is prepared to permit quixotic notions to colour one's interpretation of chronicled history. That shouldn't be a problem!

Lets say it was whittled on a night in January 1830. By Clayton the carpenter perhaps, as he sheltered under a tree during a thunderstorm, which precluded any sleep. That would explain the stand-alone nature of this tree, would it not? - And Yes! we know you shouldn't stand under trees during thunderstorms. But Clayton was, after-all, described by Sturt as "a giant of a man"; -And! Are such men not popularly satirised as having the cranial alacrity of a funeral march? Which would likewise explain the two-day discrepancy in the "days out", would it not? Clayton must've run-out of fingers and toes by-then. -It might be convenient to forget that Clayton, 'the carpenter', was a man of some genius, capable of turning a 'gum-tree' into a half-scale version of a whaleboat! That part doesn't fit the dull-witted theory very well, does it? .. Never mind! -Perhaps it was Hopkinson the soldier who whittled the tree. With his bayonet no-less. While on guard duty perhaps! We're not sure what Hopkinson's first name was. But it might have been Malcolm, and that would suite the 'MH' interpretation very nicely. -Thank you very much!

However, one would have to anticipate a certain degree of scepticism when postulating these interpretations among one's colleagues. - Me thinks!

It's also interesting to compare the bark regrowth on the "Sturt Tree" at Chowilla, hypothetically carved in 1830. With other trees, which we know, were blazed during Sturt's 1844/46 "Central Australia" expedition; viz, a tree at Depot Glen to mark the grave of James Poole and a tree at Fort Grey, established 95-mls N'W of Depot Glen in the arid NSW 'Corner Country', during the winter of 1845. -- On both of these trees, sizeable sections of bark were first removed and the symbols carved deep into the heartwood. Mind you! At Fort Grey the party had plenty of time to carve trees, as they waited for Sturt to complete his forays into the desert country beyond. While they waited they also found time to built stockyards and, after witnessing the demise of Mr Poole, strove long-&-hard to grow a vegetable patch in an effort to avert the dreaded "scurvy": --- Another "old" blazed tree is the famous "Dig Tree" at Cooper Creek, blazed in 1861 by the Bourke & Wills party, now almost totally overgrown with new bark. - -The bark regrowth on all of these, more recently blazed trees, adds up to several centimetres, whereas the "Sturt Tree" at Chowilla appears to have regrowth amounting to only millimetres. Though no finite conclusion can be drawn from this comparison due to the different species of eucalyptus involved and the fact that the Chowilla tree had died in the interim. - However. 

The above does beg the question! ... "Do the marks on the Sturt Tree really pre-date those on the Depot Glen tree, the Fort Grey tree, and the Dig Tree ?"
The scientific answer to this question is, of course, "Not bloody likely!". ... BUT it's something we will NOW! never know for certain.

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Naturally, in the week after the burning, a number of articles and letters appeared in the regional newspaper "The Murray Pioneer". To a degree, there was a certain amount of repetition involved, however, the item by Dan Lennard on Friday 11 October 1996, and reproduced below, pretty well summed-up the collective views expressed.

TOURISTS APOLOGISE FOR TREE DESTRUCTION - The tourists responsible for the accidental burning of the famous 'Sturt Tree' near Renmark last weekend have issued a public apology. Former Riverlander, Mr Peter Rogers, who was one of the seven Adelaide holidaymakers involved in the incident, said on Wednesday, they were all "most distressed" by the incident. Mr Rogers said this week they accepted responsibility for the loss and had spent almost two days trying to put out the fire. - "It has been very upsetting and we sincerely apologise to the Riverland," he said. - Meanwhile river users have been urged to use more caution when setting up campfires following the incident. The large dead red-gum tree, located up-river of Renmark on the edge of Chowilla Station, was an invaluable piece of the region's river history.
The tree caught alight when a campfire established by the houseboat users got out of control last Saturday night. Despite their frantic efforts to extinguish the fire, the tree was totally destroyed.
"It's a great tragedy," said the Murray Darling Association's publicity officer, Mr Max Schmidt, of Paringa, "It's terrible, particularly to lose it the way we did." He said the fire was caused by "utter carelessness". Mr Schmidt said better education about the dangers of campfires was required for river users.
Renmark historian Mr Brian Glenie said this week that the 'Sturt Tree' had great historical* significance as it was believed explorer Captain Charles Sturt carved initials on the tree to mark one of the campsites of his River Murray expedition in 1830. Some years ago, Adelaide author Mr Phillip Smith provided evidence from Sturt's journals that the markings had been made by Sturt's party, and was the campsite on the expedition's 20th night out of base camp. However, further examination of the tree by two curators from the SA Museum in 1971, threw doubts on the claim **. Curator of anthropology Mr Robert Edwards said at the time, the markings were obviously not made by Sturt or any explore; -He suggested the mark was more recent - probably made in the 1940s or 1950s and could be a fisherman's reach number, or could mark a pastoral lease or woodcutter's camp. ... Despite debunking the popular-held belief, the tree continued to be known as 'Sturt Tree', and remained a valuable landmark and reference point for river users.

* - After a telephone conversation with Mr Brian Glenie, it became clear that the words "great historical" were the result of some over zealous reporting. This writer, therefore, deemed it appropriate to strike these two adjectives from the newspaper transcript in an effort to more accurately represent Mr Glenie's true sentiments.

** - Murray Pioneer - January 21, 1971; - "Canoe Trees Arouse Interest". - The Adelaide Museum Curators were quite emphatic about their conclusions regarding "the tree", viz; "the markings were obviously not made by Sturt or any explorer."

The tree that some believed was 1,000 years old and which was, without doubt, many hundreds of years old. Was amongst the largest of the myriad of "canoe trees" on the Murray/Darling system. - Hundreds of years before any initials appeared on it, the Aborigines had carved a huge "bark canoe" from its trunk, leaving a huge and very recognisable scar. - For that reason alone, as Mr Schmidt said, "It's a great loss to the area. It was a well-known landmark."

One paragraph from P. Roger's letter also warrants a mention:
"I would like to correct Adelaide media reports that suggest the campfire was lit then abandoned. The fire was built on an area that had clearly carried many previous campfires, but was left unattended for a period, an irresponsible act with tragic consequences."

Below is a photograph of the controversial "Sturt Tree" inscription, taken prior to the tree's burning. It shows the alpha numeric symbols carve into the bark. Someone has 'chalked' or 'painted' Mr Phillip Smith's interpretation of M E 20.

Feel free to judge for yourselves: -

Do these symbols look like they are 170-years old -?

Unfortunately this tragic consequence was reminiscent of a somewhat similar incident that befell the "Bunyip Tree", not far from here; at-least, according to Ian Mudie that is: -[Ian Mudie "Riverboats" - 1961; Pg.207 - "the Bunyip Tree - for sixty years a landmark in Bunyip Reach - had been cut down for a piece of Saturday afternoon amusement, by men who were working on the building of Lock Six, seven miles downstream."]

FOLKLORE and FACT REGARDING A ONCE MIGHTY TREE;
by Peter J REILLY 1997; pereilly@esc.net.au

THE POPULAR MYTH MOST COMMONLY ASSOCIATED WITH THIS HISTORIC PLACE NAME, WAS SPAWNED BY ONE, OF THE SEVERAL, FACTLESS ASIDES, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS 'JOURNALISTIC LICENSE', WHICH JAMES ALLEN Jnr. INCLUDED IN HIS SPLENDID ACCOUNT OF THE P. S. LADY AUGUSTA's EXPLORATORY VOYAGE UP "THE MURRAY" IN 1853.

The offending entry, of Monday, October 10; (1853), when the P S Lady Augusta was heading back downriver, is reproduced hereunder.

    springcart - a lightweight cart designed to be drawn by a single horse.

There was NO springcart in the whaleboat!

Mr. Allen, it seems, assumed that everything and anything to do with Charles Sturt, occurred during "his exploratory voyage down the Murray", and Mr. Allen is demonstrably wrong on all counts. - i.e. about the "Springcart Gully" incident, and about the details relating to "Sturt's Cannon".

    Capt Sturt was still in the Army in 1829/30 and was the appointed Military Secretary to Governor Darling. His close association with the Governor led to him being put in Charge of the exploratory expedition that discovered the Murray River. -It was an official Governor sanctioned expedition and, as such, highly detailed inventories of personnel, equipment and supplies, issued to the party, remain to this day in NSW archives. - And, there was NO springcart in the whaleboat!
    By 1833/34 Sturt was back in England, where he married Charlotte Greene and quit the Army: - -In 1835 Charles Sturt, the civilian, returned to NSW with his wife and settled near Mittagong, where he raised cattle. - -In 1838, Sturt emulated Hawden and Bonney's Overland epic, and himself Overlanded cattle to Adelaide. So! Sturt was back in the "Riverland" region during 1838, but those early Overland treks were no place for a "springcart". - -Sturt must've liked what he saw in Adelaide for, in 1839, he sold off his Mittagong property and moved his family to Adelaide. - -During the early 1840s, the "Sydney Road" became well established and grazing leases sprang up all along The Murray. The Chambers family were prominent among the early leaseholders and Sturt was very well acquainted with them: - -We also know that Sturt transited the region in 1844, on his way to Central Australia, and returned from there in 1846. So! Sturt was, again, in the "Riverland" region between 1838 and 1853, which was when he departed S.A. for England, for the final time. - -PERHAPS he travelled via springcart on one or more of those latter occasions, but NOT before that time, and certainly NOT while on "his exploratory voyage down the Murray", as James Allen Jnr., would have us believe.

Nonetheless, the fact that James Allen even mentions the name Springcart Gully, at-all, indicates this placename was in popular use in 1853. - -However, the fact that Springcart Gully is not a "gully". But is instead a cliff-top location where the old 'Sydney Road' veered rather close to rather precipitous cliff face. Causes this researcher to find more credence in Mr. John Theodore Schell's account re this placename's origin. - Viz;

The Murray Pioneer, December 19, 1924;-Mr. J. Theodore Schell was interviewed at the age of seventy-six, after a lifetime spent pioneering the grazing industry in the Murray and the Mallee districts; - Recounting a trip he'd made with his parents (circa 1856), the interviewer paraphrases Mr. Schell thus; "Travelling down the river, Spring Cart Gully is remembered, and Mr. Schell thinks it was named thus because a horse attached to a springcart bolted over the cliffs and fell into the river. Discussing these high cliffs, Mr. Schell remembered that it was high time a substantial fence was erected at this spot. Motor cars travelling at 30 miles an hour, he said, only need to make a very little mistake in direction to meet disaster."-Theodore Schell had, obviously, known of the name and the location of "Springcart Gully" since he was a lad of eight:

Now! Anyone who is familiar with the Australian propensity for overstatement would realise that such a horse-drawn tragedy need not necessarily have occurred. One or more near misses would be sufficient to incite some local 'wit' to invent such a colloquial placename. Thereafter, word-of-mouth, together with that other Australian propensity for 'leg pulling', would soon have the placename embedded into the district's vocabulary.

Notwithstanding, there may be some readers who are still reluctant to let-go the site's legendary association with Sturt. - And! If one dwells in a world of possibilities to the detriment of probabilities; -Then, PERHAPS, it was Sturt's horse that bolted over the cliff, in the 1840s. That would simply be a matter of embellishing the facts, to accommodate the legend. But history is rife with such embellishments. - So, what the heck! - Just remember!

There was NO springcart in the whaleboat!

       © Peter J REILLY 1997; - pereilly@esc.net.au

The widely held belief that, while on his "1830 Murray Discovery expedition", Capt Charles Sturt left or abandoned a cannon, a cutlass and a carbine somewhere in the vicinity of the Murray-Darling Junction. - is but another piece of fiction that can be traced to that rascal of 'journalistic license', Mr James Allen jnr.. ~~ For it was in his 1853 publication, "Experimental Trip by the Lady Augusta on the River Murray", that James Allen Jnr. wrote -

    Thursday, September 8; (1853) - Off again this morning at five o'clock. Reached Williams's Cattle Station at half-past ten o'clock, and eased the vessel opposite to it for a quarter of an hour, while the captain and a few of the passengers went ashore. There was a crowd of natives assembled, eagerly scanning us; some of them of the most extraordinary growth, regular Brobdignagians. One man must have been at least six feet three inches in height.
    Mrs. Williams, the wife of the owner of this station, was gallantly guarding a small piece of cannon, and using the most persevering efforts to discharge it, as a salute in honor of our arrival. A native by her side, armed with a rusty carbine, kept up a continual clicking with it, in his vain endeavours to get it to go off, but both without success.
    The carbine and the cannon (a small boat cannon) are kept by Mrs. Williams as a valuable memento of Captain Sturt's exploratory voyage down the Murray, he having brought them with him on that occasion, as also a cutlass, mounted in a brass sheath, which are always shown as precious relics.

-Allen's text reviewed: Allen's account of how this cannon came to be where it was, was generally accepted by all who read this best seller of its era. Upon analysis, however, it may be noted that Allen cites how the Lady Augusta did not tie-up for this fifteen-minute stopover at Williams Station, but instead used paddle-power to stem the flow of the current "while the captain and a few of the passengers went ashore." The implication being that Allen was not among those who went ashore. His subsequent allegations about Sturt having brought them [a cannon, a cutlass & a carbine] with him on his exploratory voyage down The Murray is, in all probability, based on the hearsay of others reporting on what Mrs Williams said during what, for her, must surely have been a very hectic fifteen-minute interlude with a group of erstwhile strangers. And! Although it makes for a good read it is just another assertion, of a litany of assertions, that Allen makes throughout the Lady Augusta text, that simply does not stand-up to scrutiny. Nonetheless, the cannon exists and doubtless the name 'Sturt' was mentioned, in some context, on that September day in 1853.

-An especially obvious contradiction to Allen's version is the fact that, other than those in the Expedition whaleboat, there were no Europeans of any description in that territory, at that time: - Albeit Europeans had crossed The Great Dividing Range and, as early as 1814-15, were squatting on the inland rivers of central and northern NSW, as well as trekking southward to the shores of Port Phillip Bay, via the route pioneered by Hume & Hovell in 1824.
In the latitudes of the Murray/Murrumbidgee//Murray/Darling Junctions, however, a region that both Charles Sturt & Thomas Mitchell described with only faint praise, European expansionism moved at a much slower pace. - So much slower in fact that, by 1830, European influence in those latitudes extended no further west than Wagga Wagga; i.e. 425Km (260-miles) further east than is the Williams Station location; "as the crow flies." - Sturt's own account of his 1829/30 expedition variously records how, even on the Murrumbidgee, his party were- "the first white-men in this country ...a source of much curiosity to the natives ...who were few in number here, and kept their distance". - - The expedition's return trip up the Murray/Murrumbidgee likewise supports this notion; for they rowed all the way up the Murrumbidgee to approximately 20Km upstream of the latter-day township of Maude, before fatigue made it impossible for them to continue as a group. The two fittest among them then trekked back along the Expedition's dray tracks, for 3-days, ere they encountered the relief party encamped on the Hamilton/Pondebadgery Plains, in the vicinity of latter-day Narrandera. It took a further 3-days for help to get-back to Sturt's location.

-Was there a cannon in the whaleboat with Sturt? Well! Notwithstanding that the recoil from a cannon of this size, discharged within the confines of a 27-ft whaleboat, would, arguably, have placed the occupants of the whaleboat in a somewhat uncomfortable, if not perilous, circumstance! -The 1830 Expedition, wherein Sturt discovered & named The Murray, was an official NSW Governor sanctioned enterprise and, as such, inventories of supplies and equipment issued to the Expedition remain, to this day, in NSW State archives; - and there was no cannon included in the Expedition's paraphernalia. -Likewise, all of Sturt's journals, diaries and published account re this expedition have been numerously and scrupulously studied; -and there is nowhere to be found a single reference to the word 'cannon', nor to the word 'ordnance', which Sturt has used elsewhere in connection with other instances involving cannon and/or cannon-fire.

There was at that time, however, a propensity among journalists and orators alike to draw parallels between the exploration of The Murray and the exploration of the great North American rivers. So! Although this concept is purely speculative. It is possible that Allen's thinking, in this instance, may have been tainted with notions of the much-lauded Lewis & Clark Expedition, which, in 1803 through 1806, explored the Missouri River in North America. –A purpose built 'Mississippi keelboat' was the flagship of that expedition's, three-vessel, flotilla. And! For the purpose of the expedition, a 'one-pounder' swivel-mounted cannon was fitted on the keelboat's foredeck. However, at 55-ft long, sporting 20-oar and with a crew of 27 men. The Lewis & Clark keelboat had more in common with a 'Viking longship' than with Charles Sturt's 27-ft, 5-oar, prefabricated whaleboat.

-The case for the cutlass is quite different; -for when only three days into their whaleboat journey, Sturt recorded, "it was at last discovered that an extensive robbery had been committed upon us during the night, and that, in addition to the frying-pan, three cutlasses and five tomahawks… had been carried away. I was extremely surprised at this instance of daring in the natives" -So! Courtesy of some daring natives, there were three 1830-Expedition cutlass 'at-large' on the Murrumbidgee plains when Europeans commenced their westward exodus across that country; from around 1832 onwards:
-As for the 'rusty carbine.' -Traditionally, a 'carbine' was a weapon designed for horseback use, it having a shorter barrel than a musket, and it was consequently less accurate than a musket, which makes it an odd choice of weapon to have been in the whaleboat. -But it was a weapon of choice among drovers; and this one could have been left behind, lost, perhaps at a river crossing, abandoned or stolen by natives; and it could have happened pretty much anywhere along the entire Overland route. At the time Allen saw this 'worse for wear' weapon it, as likely as not, belonged to the native who was 'clicking' it.

Ok! What do we know about Mrs Henry Williams: -When Sturt was discovering The Murray, in 1830, the Mrs Henry Williams cited in Allen's 'journal' was one of five Jenkins siblings living on their parents' property at Sutton Forrest, in the shadow of the Blue Mountains, NSW. 
- Mrs Henry Williams, nee Elizabeth Jenkins, was born in 1818.. But it seems they grew-up pretty quick in those days, for, on 11 June 1832, Elizabeth Jenkins of Sutton Forrest (age 14yrs) married Mr Henry Williams, in the 'All Saints Church' at Camden NSW.
- Of particular interest, however, are two of Elizabeth's brothers, -John (born 1816) & Francis [Frank] (born 1820).- For these two were to became legends in their own lifetime on account of their remarkable exploits at the very forefront of the squatters exodus, which moved ever westward across the Murrumbidgee hinterland in the wake of Capt Sturt's 1829/30 discoveries:
- As these two intrepid brothers literally led the settlers 'westward exodus’, they came into frequent & oftentimes hostile communion with the region's native population. It is entirely possible, therefore, that one of the stolen cutlass may have ended-up in the hands of John or Frank Jenkins, perhaps by-way of native barter, or as the spoils of war. For although the era of the Wiradjuri Wars was largely a thing of the past and contact with local natives had, for the most part, become cordial. Sporadic confrontations between graziers and local natives, over some perceived transgression or other, were to remain a fact-of-life for several more years to-come. ... The Jenkins brothers' exploits may be reviewed on the www by combining Jenkins with other keywords such as 'Sutton Forrest' 'Berrima' 'Toyool' 'Buckingbong' 'Yanko' 'Nangus' 'Canonba' 'Yerre Yerre' 'Gillenbah' 'Golgol' 'Gol Gol' 'Mildura' or 'Portland'.

The fact that the Jenkins 'clan' did possess a cannon was quite widely known. - It is mentioned in a variety of journals, memoirs and publications; -and it may explain, in part, why the Jenkins bros were able to set-up & maintain cattle runs in regions where other come-lately Europeans were abandoning their selections on account of Aboriginal harassment:- But NOWHERE, other than in James Allen jnr's account re the P. S. Lady Augusta, is there to be found even the vaguest  suggestion that the Jenkins's cannon was in someway/somehow associated with Capt Charles Sturt "Discoverer of The Murray" - viz;
… In the book "Narrandera Shire" (p.38), by Prof. Bill Gammage, the author quotes a line from an old "Narrandera Argus" newspaper, citing an elderly local resident reminiscing about the good old days, wherein a reference is made about the Jenkins fighting the Aborigines "with courage and a cannon" at Buckingbong. – As the Jenkins set-up Buckingbong Station around 1839 then, logically speaking, a cannon would've been at its most useful during the first five-or-so years of their tenure; i.e. 1839-1844.
… The O'Shaughnessy diaries: -In, what's reckoned to be, 1848 a young 13-yo Thos O'Shaughnessy accompanied his father in overlanding 800-odd cattle from Cowra region NSW to the Barossa district SA. Some time thereafter Thos began keeping a diary and prefaced same with a narrative of the overland trip he'd done as a boy, which includes the following, "travelled down the Murray to Jenkins Station on a high bank over the river, at this Station they had a small swivel gun mounted on a stump, some time previous the blacks were troublesome. I believe the owners had to use this gun – from Jenkins we came to the junction of the Darling river with the Murray, poor country along here..."   ~~~  In 1857, a now married Thos O'Shaughnessy, and wife, returned to the Cowra district along the same route he'd travelled as a boy; -the relevant diary-pages, marked 1857, read thus; …"24 (June) Crossed the carts over the Darling in a boat and swam the horses across and went to Williams Station, we fired an old Cannon off after dark." … "25 (June) stayed all day raining." … "26 (June) Mr McFarland's 25 miles past Jenkins old station." … ... ... Clearly Thos O'Shaughnessy spent a lot more time in the company of those who possessed this cannon than James Allen jnr ever did; yet Charles Sturt's name is nowhere mentioned in the O'Shaughnessy diaries.
… Up until the 1960s “The Bulletin” magazine had an 'Aboriginalities' page featuring outback anecdotes as submitted by readers;  - In the winter of 1949 John Ziegler Huie IV was perusing an old copy when he happened upon an article that was of particular interest to him. It had been submitted by an old station-hand. - J Z Huie IV paraphrases the article thus – “In 1888 ... when working on a station in western NSW ... the manager of the station ... would on the rare occasions that a cloud appeared ... roll out a cannon that had been on the station for many years and was formerly used to frighten natives when they were spearing cattle. He would load this up with a charge of powder and nuts, bolts, stones or whatever, and with everyone present, point it up towards the cloud and set it off. At the explosion he would stand back and shout “Send Her Down!” in the attempt to get rain.” – J Z Huie IV believes this to be the origin of the expression - “Send her down Huie!”, which is nowadays commonly used in the bush, and elsewhere, by persons desiring a change in the weather, particularly when rain is needed. – [ed.. we can but ponder in amazement at how the old timers managed to convince the cattle to ‘stay put’ when the cannon was discharged to frighten off the natives.] --- Anyhow! The details cited above are known to have taken place on Canonba Station, and the manager in question was John Ziegler Huie II, the grandfather of J Z Huie IV ---- At one time or another, J Z Huie II managed a number of large outback stations including Canonba, Lake Midgeon & Buckingbong. -- He later became a son in-law to Frank Jenkins when, on the 29th May 1894, he married Frank’s daughter, Ada Mary [Nonie] Jenkins. …The couple had three children, Ada Mary, John Zeigler III  &  Marjory. …‘Mum’ Nonie, however, was killed accidentally by a falling tree in 1917. …Some time thereafter J Z Huie II married Nonie’s sister, Clara Florence Jenkins (born 1865).

 

Shown here is a British made swivel cannon\gun, circa 17-1800s, from an antique weapon collection: Sailing ships like HMS Endeavour, HMS Bounty, and similar, commonly had upward of six such cannon mounted around their gunwale. -They were used to signal landing parties etc., also as a defence against pirates or similar 'hostiles', and by flagships to signal other vessels in a fleet. Weighing-in at around 1-cwt, a couple of seamen could ship, or unship, these cannon as & when required. Note;- elsewhere, it's variously noted how the Jenkins operated a comprehensively equipped blacksmith shop at Buckingbong station. So fabricating a mounting, be it swivel or carriage, for their cannon would've been well within their capability.

There was NO cannon in the whaleboat!

- Hypothetical No.1#  =  Additional details re where the Jenkins family lived in the early days merits some further comment. - In 1825 the Jenkins's were granted 60 acres of land at Sutton Forrest NSW where they farmed & raised cattle. In 1835 John senior built the first house in the nearby, recently surveyed town of Berrima. Later on, in 1841, he purchased that house, which became their family home and it shortly became known as "Jenkins House" - Jenkins descendants continued to own that house up until 1950, when it was sold, and it has since been renamed "Berrima House".  ~ ~ ~   In 1835 Charles Napier Sturt, the nouveau family man lately retired from the army, arrived back in NSW with his wife after a 2-year interlude in England. Sturt at once took-up a property at Mittagong, which just happens to be within a "bull's roar" of Sutton Forrest where the Jenkins family lived. -- Sturt raised cattle on his Mittagong property, and, in 1838, he overlanded 400 cattle to Adelaide where he purchased acreage on the lower reaches of the River Torrens, in a section known as the "Reed Beds". Sturt's overland route replicated that of Hawdon & Bonny's; i.e. they headed south till they intersected the river Hume, as it was then known, and crossed over to the south side. They then, as near as was possible, followed the Hume/Murray westward until they were almost to the Darling Junction. At, what Hawdon described as 4-miles short of the junction, they came across a section of river that, to a cattleman's eyes, was a good crossing spot. Here they discovered a 'dig tree' blazed by Thomas Mitchell who had, for similar reasons, chosen this spot to cross over The Murray in 1836. The Hawdon party dug-up a glass phial containing a message from Mitchell, Hawdon added a message of his own, and they reburied the phial where they'd found it. As likely as not, Sturt repeated this process when he arrived at this spot 4-months after Hawdon. The following year, 1839, Sturt sold-off his Mittagong property and moved his family to Adelaide:  ~ ~ ~  This gives rise to a possible scenario of a departing Charles Sturt gifting a cannon etc., to the Jenkins family, whom he had perhaps befriended. Or of the Jenkins family perhaps purchasing the cannon etc., at a lock, stock & barrel type sale of stuff that Sturt deemed did not warrant transhipping to SA. Either way, the Jenkins could've acquired a cannon that was certainly associated with Charles Sturt, but not with his 1830 exploratory voyage down the Murray. - It needs to be understood, however, that there exists NO substantiating data to support either of these scenario. So it/they can never be anything other than a theory. - Nonetheless, if John jnr & his brother Francis did use this cannon to frighten-off natives from spearing their cattle, as is elsewhere suggested, then the most likely timeframe for that eventuality would have been around 1839-1849, when the brothers were establishing the Buckingbong & Gillenbah stations in territory that had, until that time, been the domain of tribal Aboriginals. [Ed note ... distance Mittagong to Berrima/Sutton Forrest was then and is now 8 to 12 Km, approx.]

 

The 'Sturt' cannon; - An unmounted cannon, purported to be the one that James Allen saw in 1853, was gifted to the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, S A Branch, in 1907: - The RGS promptly ascertained it was not a military cannon but was of a type known as a trade or signalling cannon, which, in the 19th-Century, was retailed to the general public and could be had by anyone who could afford it.

As this cannon's association with Capt Sturt was a topic of some controversy. The RGS opted to researched the claim and, thanks to the diligent efforts of Past-President Dr Chris Whitaker, their findings are archived in “Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, SA Branch Inc.; Volume 79; 1978” – The RGS concluded that not only was there no cannon listed among the Expedition’s paraphernalia nor were there any cannon balls or grapeshot included, but also, in view of the weaponry that was issued, the amount of gunpowder provided suggests the use of a cannon was never on their agenda.

The RGS research also unearthed a newspaper report that adds more fuel the riddle of the cannon’s origin. –Viz: -The Advertiser, Adelaide, 21 May 1908. – Report of RGS Annual Meeting; –Quoting from an interview with a Mr Thos Williams (circa 1907) - “it (the cannon) did not come from Fort Bourke but from Gol Gol Station where a stockman named Jesse Dear was living and was actually present when Captain Sturt gave the gun and sword to Mr. Frank Jenkins.” - It's highly probable, however, that this statement was a rebuttal aimed at a parallel account alleging the cannon had been left by Sturt on the bank of the Warrego River, an Upper Darling tributary, in 1828, where it was purportedly later found by a station manager, named as Mr Henry Williams, who afterwards had it sent by steamer to Wentworth in 1863. – Clearly, however, if there was a cannon found on the Warrego River, as claimed, it could not be the same cannon that James Allen jnr saw at Williams Station, on The Murray, in 1853.

- Hypothetical No.2#  = As a result of corroborating data from the Jamieson & from the O'Shaughnessy fraternities. We now know that Frank Jenkins was 'squatting' on an already established cattle run, on the south banks of The Murray, in the Darling Junction precinct, from as early as July 1847, probably much earlier, and was still there, on the north bank, in 1848; - but was gone from the region in 1853 when the P S Lady Augusta came this way. The 'probably much earlier' means he could have moved into the region in 1846, or earlier. And! It was in January 1846 that the Central Australia Expedition, led by Charles Sturt, returned from the inland via The Darling.
Summary of the 1844/46 "Central Australia Expedition": - This expedition assembled on the, then vacant, land at the corner of King William & Currie Streets, Adelaide. From whence, in August 1844, the party of sixteen set-off, carting yet another boat to navigate the fabled “Inland Sea”. The site is memorialised with a bronze plaque mounted adjacent the Currie Street footpath. - The party trekked along the old Sydney Road to the Darling & Great Anabranch country then headed North through the Barrier Ranges and on into what is nowadays known as Corner Country, at the congregation of the SA, NT, Qld & NSW borders. The extreme aridity they experienced in this region trapped the party at the Depot Glen waterhole from January-to-July 1845. Sturt’s deputy, James Poole, died from the combined effects of heat and scurvy during that time and other members of the party came close to perishing. With the fortuitous arrival of winter rains, in mid-July 1845, Sturt sent the weaker members of his party ‘home’. Himself and the remainder of the party then$ pressed-on a further 95Km into the interior where they established a base-camp named Fort Grey. Sturt then conducted further forays into “a million hectares of waterless gibber plains, red sand hills and eroded ranges” before, in Nov 1845, he gave-up in despair: -The entire party was now in a very emaciated state and the risk of man & beast perishing in the desert was very real. Sturt was so paralysed from the scurvy, himself, that he was forced to travel in the cart. So! In order to ‘travel light’, he directed that much of the equipment & supplies be abandoned, en-route, as it became redundant to his survival strategy. Paralysed as he was, Sturt directed that some of the bullocks were to be killed and their skin be stitched-up and used as water bags, in a manner he’d observed the natives used opossum skins. He then supervised a 400Km /24-day forced march back to The Darling, where a relief party, led by a Mr Piesse, awaited them.  En-route Sturt was fed a diet of local native berries that afforded him some relief from the scurvy. On the 22nd & 23rd December the men of the "Desert Party" straggled into the "Relief Party's" camp, on the Darling River, where they rested for 2-days and celebrated Christmas. They then continued on down the Darling to a spot some 32Km (20-ml) north of the Murray/Darling junction where they crossed over to the Great Anabranch and so-on to Adelaide. During this time, all that remained of the expedition's fishhooks & fishnets, Sturt gave away to the natives they met along the way, as he also did with the-odd sheep or two. ~ ~ Alas! There is no record of any encounter with any "non-expeditionary" Europeans during this trip down the Darling, nor anywhere else within the precincts of Lake Victoria. Also, as it was with the 1830 Murray Discovery Expedition, there is not even the slightest suggestion of any cannon having a role in the 1844/46 Central Australia Expedition. There remains a slim possibility, however, that Frank Jenkins may have fraternised with the Mr Piesse led Relief Party, which was encamped on the Darling River for some months while they awaited Sturt's return from the inland. Whether the Relief Party had a cannon in its arsenal or not is a matter that could bear some further investigation.  

For several years thereafter, perhaps even a decade, it was variously reported that the tracks of Sturt’s drays were still discernible upon the landscape. An intrepid bushman, such as Frank Jenkins, perhaps in the company of a stockman named Jesse Dear, would've had little trouble back-tracking those dray tracks to wherever, perchance even restoring an abandoned dray to working order, seasonal conditions permitting, then loading it with whatever abandoned equipment was worthy of redemption. -- Though this hypothetical scenario 'fits' rather snugly into recorded history, only Frank Jenkins, or perhaps Jesse Dear, could assert as to the veracity, or otherwise, of any of this latter-day fiction. -
- Of course, hypothetically speaking, there are other possibilities; e.g. The Jenkins could have acquired a signalling cannon, which was -- a/ purchased in Sydney and been told by the salesman that it was an ex-"Sturt Expedition" cannon. -- b/ associated with either of the Relief Parties that attended the 1829/30 or the 1844/46 Sturt Expeditions. -- c/ associated with any of the squatters who are known to have attempted to establish stock runs in the western wilderness, ahead of the Jenkins brothers, but abandoned those runs in the face of Aboriginal hostility, any cannon thus abandoned and later found, may have been assumed by the ‘finder’ to have been left there by Charles Sturt. -- d/ somehow passed-on by Evelyn Sturt, the brother of Charles Sturt, who was also a consummate bushman and accomplished Overlander, regarded by many as the equal to Joseph Hawdon. -- and the list goes on........... ~ ~ ~ Any of these hypothetical scenarios could result in the Jenkins family acquiring a cannon, which they believed was associated with Charles Sturt, the man who discovered The Murray, but not with the “Expedition” that discovered The Murray.

Conclusion: - James Allen jnr stands alone as the only person in recorded history to claim that Captain Charles Sturt had a cannon with him, in the whaleboat, when that gentleman explored and named the River Murray in 1830. -- Allen's claim is based on what, in all probability, was a second-hand account of a conversation that occurred between erstwhile strangers, some twenty-three years after Sturt's 'Murray Discovery' voyage, during an impromptu fifteen-minute stopover at Williams Station, the primary objective of that conversation being to arrange for the shipment of the Station's woolclip. -- In short; Allen's claim is hearsay, it would never stand-up in a court of law, and the circumstances surrounding it provide more than sufficient cause to be justifiably sceptical of Allen's 'cannon' claim.

In view of the broadly sourced information to the contrary, hereinbefore cited, it can be reasonably said that Allen's aside re -"The carbine and the cannon ... a valuable memento of Captain Sturt's exploratory voyage down the Murray, he having brought them with him on that occasion," is poppycock! … 

    ( …  poppycock (pŏp' ĭ kŏk'), n. Colloq. nonsense; bosh. )

In fairness to Allen, I seriously doubt it was his intention to deceive. More likely it simply never occurred to him to question the veracity of what was told to him and, as likely as not, he was a disciple of that age-old journalist's adage, re- "never let the truth get in the way of a good story". Nevertheless, in view of this, and the numerous other facile allegations that Allen makes throughout the Lady Augusta text, it can be fairly stated that, had Jumping to Conclusions been an Olympic sport James Allen jnr would've been a Gold Medal contender.

There was NO cannon in the whaleboat!

© by Peter J REILLY 1997;pereilly@esc.net.au 

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THE MYTH OF THE "BEDSTEAD GRAVE" AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH THE VICTIMS OF THE "P. S. BUNYIP" FIRE:

Controversy surrounds a lonely grave located near lock 6#, about 50Km upstream from Renmark: - It is known locally as the "Bedstead Grave" and is on the high ground to the east of the Murray, not far from the river section known as "Bunyip Reach", which got its name from a tragedy that occurred there in 1863: - For it was on 8th December 1863 that four people lost their lives when the P. S. Bunyip was destroyed by fire while travelling in this section, about 2Km above the lock.  The proximity of the Bedstead Grave to the fatality site, led to the mistaken belief that it held victims of that tragedy. Namely, that it holds the remains of a Mrs. Duncan Fraser and/or her infant child, who were both incinerated in the blaze:

Popular though the folklore may be. Meticulous research of the reams of archived material relating to the incident has failed to find any evidence, whatsoever, to substantiate these allegations. A passenger, Mrs Duncan Fraser, & her infant child were incinerated in the blaze, and only fragmented and charred human remains were ever recovered: - On or about 11 Dec.1863, Corporal Besley of the SA Police submitted a report to Headquarters, which indicated some human remains, believed to be of a woman & child, were found: - On 21st December, however, aborigines assisting in the salvage operation found a more substantial quantity of charred adult human bones, and these were reported to be in an area of the wreck that coincided with the location of Mrs Fraser's cabin: - Mr Jamieson SM, who conducted an inquiry at the site, reported that no remains of the infant Fraser were ever found, "but there could be no doubt that the infant had perished with its mother". He also reported that the remains, that were recovered, were placed in a bag and buried at Chowilla Station, on the west bank: - The deceased's husband, Mr Duncan Fraser, later made what appears to have been a verbal request to Overland Corner Police, to have his family's remains removed to higher ground, above what he deemed to be the Murray's flood level. The official response was that Mr Fraser would have to pay for any reinterment that took place, and a total lack of further reporting suggests the matter was dropped at that point: - Believers of the myth, however, believe that Duncan Fraser, himself, dug up the remains, transported them to the east side of the river, and there re-interned them on the high ground overlooking the site of the fatal tragedy:

In regards to the "Bedstead Grave", on Bunyip Reach Station, which has been operated by the Stoeckel family since the 1880s. The Stoeckels are in possession of a piece of a tin plate that marked this grave in earlier times. Family history relates how, in the early 1900s, a former relative removed the surviving piece of tin plate to the family homestead, for safe keeping, and marked the grave with an old iron bed-head, which continues to mark the grave to the present time: The presence of the iron "bed-head" no-doubt bestowed a level of prominence on this grave that it would not otherwise have had: - That! Together with its proximity to Bunyip Reach, led to the local notion that it must somehow be associated with the Bunyip tragedy. Proponents believing that it held the re-interred remains of Mrs Fraser & infant: - (See image at right)

- The Stoeckels' tin plate clearly shows the name jane (sic), as also the word july (sic), along with the word born and a rather enigmatic... the II A .... In official records, however, the female victim of the Bunyip fire is known as nothing other than Mrs Duncan Fraser and the name of the infant Fraser is nowhere stated. Therefore, the tin plate's inscription did nothing to dispel this locally popular myth:

Modern technology in the form of the CD-Rom changed all that. We now have a tool capable of searching historic records in unprecedented detail! -Such a search, revealed the given name of the deceased Mrs Fraser to be Elizabeth and the deceased infant was her 7-month old daughter Jessie: -In addition we know Elizabeth (nee Harris) married Duncan in 1859 at Angaston SA, and they had two children, Finlay born in 1861 & Jessie born at Moorara Station on the River Darling on 6 April 1863: We also know that Duncan remarried in 1865 to another Elizabeth (nee Lindsay) at Gawler Town SA, and had six children by his second marriage. He was variously described as a stockman or a labourer:

So! We now know there was NO "Jane" aboard the P.S. Bunyip, when it was consumed in flames in 1863, and this fact disassociates the "Bunyip Grave" from having anything to do with the Bunyip Fire Victims:

There is, therefore, no factual basis for associating the grave known as the "Bedstead Grave", located on the east bank of the Murray, with any of the victims of the P S Bunyip fire tragedy: -Moreover, the "Bedstead Grave" is not the only grave located on the high ground to the east of the Murray in this vicinity. There are many interned hereabouts, both Aboriginal and European. Mostly they are associated with the early grazing industry, which was active in this region since the 1840's - OR - with the unsuccessful attempts, in 1893\94, to establish a privately funded village settlement at Murtho: