37-582: Granite Downs was a 9,000-square-kilometre (3,475 sq mi) cattle station in arid northern South Australia . It is now part of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands. A 552-square-kilometre (213 sq mi) part of Granite Downs has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it supports a population of the near threatened chestnut-breasted whiteface at its north-western distribution limit. It also supports populations of
74-518: A cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch ), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a grazier . The largest cattle station in the world is Anna Creek Station in South Australia , which covers an area of 23,677 square kilometres (9,142 sq mi; 5,851,000 acres). Each station has a homestead where
111-593: A better future in the beef cattle industry. The North Australian Pastoral Company Pty Limited (NAPCO) is now one of Australia's largest beef cattle producers, with a herd of over 180,000 cattle and fourteen cattle stations in Queensland and the Northern Territory. The Australian Agricultural Company (AA Co) manages a cattle herd of more than 585,000 head. Heytesbury Beef Pty Ltd owns and manages over two hundred thousand head of cattle across eight stations spanning
148-589: A chain of cattle stations along the sources of water, from the Gulf of Carpentaria , into South Australia to be within easy droving distance of the Adelaide markets. Aborigines have long played a big part in the cattle industry where they were competent stockmen on the cattle stations of the north. In 1950 it was legislated that the Aboriginal workers were now to be paid cash wages. Many cattle stations were established along
185-580: A common sight in rural and Outback areas. But during times of drought , taking animals onto the "long paddock", the fenced travelling stock route , along a public road, is common practice even today, and droving skills are still required. The modern drover is now typically assisted with modern equipment, such as motorcycles , all-terrain vehicles , a truck and/or trailer for the horses, if they are used. Caravans are commonly used, along with generators to provide extra comfort and convenience. Stock may be enclosed at night in an area that has been fenced off with
222-405: A day, sheep about six miles (9.7 km), and are permitted to spread up to 800 metres (half a mile) on either side of the road. Occasionally mobs of horses were moved by drovers. A short camp is made for a lunch break, after which the cook and horse-tailer will move ahead to set up the night camp. A continual watch is kept over cattle during the night camp, usually with one horseman riding around
259-420: A new owner's property, taking animals to market, or moving animals during a drought in search of better feed and/or water or in search of a yard to work on the livestock. The drovers who covered very long distances to open up new country were known as " overlanders ". Moving a small mob of quiet cattle is relatively easy, but moving several hundreds or thousands head of wild station cattle over long distances
296-573: A new pastoral lease, Fossil Downs Station , in the Kimberley of Western Australia some 5,600 kilometres (3,480 mi) away. They left with 700 head of cattle and 60 horses during drought conditions as they trekked through Queensland . Arriving at the property in June 1886 with 327 cattle and 13 horses they reunited with their brother Dan. The most famous Outback stock routes were the Murranji Track ,
333-535: A policing force, killed at least 30 Aboriginal people, in the Rufus River massacre . In 1863, boss drover George Gregory drove 8,000 sheep from near Rockhampton to the Northern Territory border, some 2,100 km, taking seven months. In the early 1870s, Robert Christison overlanded 7,000 sheep from Queensland to Adelaide, a distance of 2,500 km. Patrick Durack and his brother Michael trekked across
370-585: A river, bores or dams , in conjunction with rainwater tanks. Nowadays, if rural mains power is not connected, electricity is typically provided by a generator, although solar electricity systems have become increasingly common. Children were originally educated by correspondence lessons , often supervised by a governess , and via the School of the Air , but many children in remote areas went to boarding school for their secondary education. The Royal Flying Doctor Service
407-663: A significant distance occurred in 1836 when 300 cattle were moved by Joseph Hawdon in 26 days from the Murrumbidgee River to Melbourne , a distance of about 480 km. Also in 1836, Edward John Eyre drove stock from New South Wales to the Port Phillip district. As droving skills were developed, more challenging assignments were undertaken. During the late 1830s, settlers began to move into countryside near Adelaide . There followed expeditions to bring sheep and cattle to Adelaide from New South Wales. The first such expedition
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#1733093602790444-452: A sturdy tree (very quickly). Many drovers have been trampled to death in a rush, sometimes still in their swags . A good night-horse can be given its head, and will gradually wheel the leading cattle around until the mob is moving in a circle, and calm can be restored. During long "dry stages" extra care will be taken of the stock, and this may involve droving during the night to conserve the animals’ energy. About three kilometres before water
481-546: A temporary electric fence . Localised droving was common in the Kosciuszko National Park and Alpine National Park and High Plains areas, until the areas became National Parks. The drovers would often bring cattle from the lower pastures to the fresh green pastures for the summer months. During the summer months many of the drovers would often stay in mountain huts like Daveys Hut , Whites River Hut and Mawsons Hut . In 1881, Nat Buchanan , regarded by many as
518-407: A trip. The horse tailer was the team member responsible for getting horses to water and feed, and bringing them to the camp in the morning. A good night-horse was highly prized for its night vision, temperament, and its ability to bring animals under control when a "rush", known elsewhere as a stampede, occurred at night. The standard team of men employed to move 1,200 cattle consisted of seven men:
555-409: Is a very different matter. Long-distance moving large mobs of stock was traditionally carried out by contract drovers. A drover had to be independent and tough, an excellent horseman, able to manage stock as well as men. The boss drover who had a plant (horses, dogs, cooking gear and other requisites) contracted to move the mob at a predetermined rate according to the conditions, from a starting point to
592-442: Is available to remote stations in outback Australia. Historically, an outstation was a subsidiary homestead or other dwelling on Australian sheep or cattle stations that was more than a day's return travel from the main homestead. Although the term later came to be more commonly used to describe a specific type of Aboriginal settlement, also known as a homeland community , it is still used on cattle stations today, for example
629-460: Is reached, the animals will be held and small groups will be taken to drink in order that the cattle do not rush and injure or drown others. A "cattle train drover" is a person who accompanies a mob of cattle on a train while they are being transported to a new location. The goods trains provide special accommodation for these drovers in specially constructed guard's vans. Queensland is now the only state to run cattle trains. The first droving over
666-627: The Birdsville Track , the Strzelecki Track and the Canning Stock Route . The Canning was regarded as the loneliest, the most difficult, and the most dangerous. The gradual introduction of railways from about the 1860s made some droving work unnecessary. However, the work of the overlanders and drovers in general fell away rapidly in the 1960s as trucking of animals became the norm. Road trains carrying large number of animals are today
703-578: The Great Dividing Range where only cattle raising was possible because of dingo attacks on sheep. The original Kunderang Station, on the eastern fall of the Great Dividing Range was taken up by Captain George Jobling as an outstation, and later sold under the Subdivision of Runs Act 1884. Kunderang was one of the few Great Dividing Range stations which was inhabited. The isolated homestead here,
740-454: The Thomson , Barcoo , Cooper and Strezlecki rivers thus pioneering the Strzelecki Track . Women have been noted as exceptional drovers as well. One of the true legends of the outback is Edna Zigenbine, better known as Edna Jessop , who took over a droving job from her injured father, and became a boss drover at 23. Along with her brother Andy and four ringers, they moved the 1,550 bullocks
777-510: The Top End heat and cattle ticks . The Brucellosis and Tuberculosis Eradication Campaign (BTEC) was a national program to eradicate bovine brucellosis and bovine tuberculosis that commenced in 1970 after years of local jurisdictional activities. In the 1970s, interest rates soared and the American beef market collapsed causing the beef depression. A fat bullock was then worth less than a pair of locally made elastic side riding boots. The cattle herd
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#1733093602790814-450: The inland dotterel , Bourke's parrot , banded whiteface , black honeyeater , pied honeyeater , cinnamon quail-thrush , chiming wedgebill and thick-billed grasswren . 27°01′01″S 133°31′15″E / 27.01694°S 133.52083°E / -27.01694; 133.52083 This South Australia geography article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Cattle station In Australia and New Zealand,
851-547: The East Kimberley, Victoria River and Barkly Tablelands regions in Northern Australia. Cattle station has a parallel term, sheep station , for those stations carrying sheep rather than cattle. In most cases the stations are in a rangeland context on pastoral leases . Many are larger than small countries. Some stations are not exclusively sheep or cattle stations but have a mix of cattle, sheep and even goats to make
888-849: The Sturt Creek Outstation of the Ruby Plains Station in The Kimberley , among others. The cattle station now known as Pigeon Hole was until 2000 an outstation of the Victoria River Downs Station . Charles Brown Fisher and Maurice Lyons, a Melbourne magistrate stocked Victoria River Downs in the early 1880s. Drover , Nathaniel Buchanan (1826–1901), overlanded 20,000 head of cattle from Wilmot to Victoria River Downs in c.1881 to establish their cattle venture. Previously Nat had from 1860 to 1867, stocked and managed Bowen Downs Station near Longreach, Queensland . Buchanan
925-412: The boss drover, four stockmen , a cook and a horse-tailer. Store cattle were moved in larger mobs, of up to 1,500 head, while fat bullocks going to meatworks were taken in mobs of about 650 head, i.e. three train loads. The stockmen will ride in formation at the front, sides and back of the mob, at least until the mob has settled into a routine pace. Cattle are expected to cover about ten miles (16 km)
962-402: The destination. The priorities for a boss drover were the livestock, the horses, and finally the men, as drovers were paid per head of stock delivered. Drovers were sometimes on the road for as long as two years. Traditional droving could not have been done without horses. The horse plant was made up of work-horses, night-horses and packhorses , with each drover riding four or five horses during
999-726: The greatest drover of all, took 20,000 cattle from St George in Southern Queensland to the Daly River , not far south of Darwin , a distance of 3,200 km. Cattle stealing has long been part of Australia's history and some of the country's biggest droving feats have been performed by cattle rustlers or duffers . The most notable one was Harry Redford who established a reputation as an accomplished drover when he stole 1,000 cattle from Bowen Downs Station near Longreach, Queensland in 1870 and drove them 1,500 miles (2,400 km). His route took him through very difficult country down
1036-429: The mob, unless the cattle are restless, when two riders would be used. A rush can be started by a sudden noise such as a dingo howl, a bolt of lightning , sparks from a fire, or even a bush rat gnawing on a tender part of a hoof. Drovers tell vivid stories of the totally chaotic conditions that occur when several hundred cattle start a rush at night. If they head towards the drovers’ camp, the best option may be to climb
1073-596: The north of Australia from their property on Coopers Creek in Queensland , which they left in 1879 along with 7250 breeding cattle and 200 horses, to the Kimberley region of Western Australia near Kununurra where they arrived in 1882. The 3,000 miles (4,828 km) journey of cattle to stock Argyle Downs and Ivanhoe Station is the longest of its type ever recorded. Charles and William MacDonald left their property near Tuena , New South Wales, in 1883 bound to establish
1110-476: The owner less vulnerable to changes in the wool or beef prices. The phrase is also in traditional Australian English to denote something large and/or important. Drover (Australian) A drover in Australia is a person, typically an experienced stockman , who moves livestock , usually sheep , cattle , and horses "on the hoof" over long distances. Reasons for droving may include: delivering animals to
1147-442: The property owner or the manager lives. Nearby cottages or staff quarters provide housing for the employees. Storage sheds and cattle yards are also sited near the homestead. Other structures depend on the size and location of the station. Isolated stations will have a mechanic's workshop, schoolroom, a small general store to supply essentials, and possibly an entertainment or bar area for the owners and staff. Water may be supplied from
Granite Downs - Misplaced Pages Continue
1184-790: Was an almost continuous train of sheep, cattle, bullock drays, and horses along the route. Many Aboriginal Australians lived along the route. They sometimes received "injudicious treatment" from the Europeans—in the words of Governor George Gawler . Such treatment included sexual abuse of Aboriginal women and wanton shooting of Aboriginal people. That led to an escalating cycle of conflicts between Aboriginal people and Europeans. For example, drover Henry Inman lost all 5000 of his sheep, when Aboriginal people attacked his party, in April 1841. And in August 1841, drover William Robinson and his party, together with
1221-1138: Was associated with the opening up and stocking of several cattle stations in the Victoria River district and the Ord River region. The Gordon brothers and Nathaniel Buchanan took up Wave Hill on the Victoria River in 1883, one of the first cattle stations established west of the Telegraph Line. Their nearest neighbour was 200 miles (322 km) away. By 1898 James Tyson (8 April 1819 – 4 December 1898), held 5,329,214 acres (2,156,680 ha) including 352,332 acres (142,585 ha) freehold. His stations included Bangate, Goondublui, Juanbung, Tupra and Mooroonowa in New South Wales; Heyfield in Victoria; and Glenormiston , Swanvale, Meteor Downs and Albinia Downs, Babbiloora, Carnarvon, Tully, Wyobie, Felton, Mount Russell and Tinnenburra in Queensland. Sidney Kidman (1857–1935) set up
1258-727: Was built of solid Australian red cedar ( Toona ciliata ). Several major events have affected cattle stations starting with the Second World War and including the beef depression of the early 1970s, the technological achievements of the 1980s and the advent of live export markets in the more recent years. Roads and communications were greatly improved as a result of the War. Many of the Northern Territory cattle stations had been previously owned by English companies who also did not pay tax in Australia. The 33,280 square kilometres Victoria River Downs
1295-634: Was led by Eyre, which started in December 1837 and followed the path of Charles Sturt along the Murray–Darling River system . Eyre's party comprised eight stockmen, 1000 sheep, and 600 head of cattle, which started out from Monaro in New South Wales. The party arrived in Adelaide in July 1838. During the following years, the traffic on the Murray–Darling route would grow enormously. At its height, there
1332-555: Was reduced to 21.8 million by 1978 in the wake of this crash. Roads and communications were further improved as a result of the Tuberculosis Eradication Campaign. In 1979, a disastrous drought struck and continued into 1983 becoming one of Australia's worst droughts. Helicopters were now being used to assist in mustering in the 1980s. Australia entered the Japanese beef market in 1988 with improved expectations for
1369-809: Was sold in March 1909 to Lord Luke's Bovril Australian Estates for AU£180,000 and until 1950 they were not paying taxes to the Australian Government. In 1950 income tax was introduced to Northern Territory land owners. The very large stations were subdivided and country was available with reasonable conditions of tenure. This saw an influx of adventurous, working stockmen, with many doing well by mustering 'cleanskins' (unbranded cattle) on their new land. Zebu cattle were imported from Pakistan in 1956 and Brahman cattle were also brought from United States at about that time. Many new breeds were developed from these imports and this led to cattle that were much more tolerant to
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