Lake Nash Station

Lake Nash Station most commonly known as Lake Nash is a cattle station on the Barkly Tableland in the Northern Territory, Australia.

Lake Nash Station
Location in Northern Territory

Overshot dam on lake nash ca. 1902
View of Lake Nash ca. 1925
Manager's homestead on Lake Nash Station, ca. 1925
Stock on Murranji Track after being dipped at Lake Nash ca. 1953

Location

It is situated approximately 8 kilometres (5 mi) west of Alpurrurulam and 117 kilometres (73 mi) south of Camooweal. The property shares a boundary with Georgina Downs and Austral Downs to the north, Argadargada to the west, Manners Creek Station to the south and the Queensland border to the east.[1] Several waterways such as the Georgina River, Milne River, Manners Creek, Georgina Creek, Goyder Creek and Gordon Creek cross the property.

Description

The Station occupies an area of 12,000 square kilometres (4,633 sq mi), or three million acres,[2] and is bisected by the Georgina River. The property includes the historic homestead and original police station. The area is rolling plains of black soil well covered with mitchell grass overlaying limestone. The limestone contains many caves, many filled with pools of water, Lake Nash has several some of which are accessible and reach a depth of over 300 feet (91 m).[3]

History

The traditional owners of the area are the Yaroinga peoples who inhabited around 11,900 square miles (31,000 km2) of country straddling both the Northern Territory and Queensland including Lake Nash toward the northern edge of their range.[4]

The station was established by John Costello, the son of Irish immigrants, who built the property up over the early years.[2] Costello had acquired the property in 1879 from Mr F. Scar who had sold it unstocked.[5] Costello began to stock the station later the same year when he had 700 head of mixed cattle overlanded from Carrawal where he had previously worked.[6] Fattened cattle were taken overland to Adelaide for market in the 1880s.[7]

The area was subjected to severe flooding in 1901 when Lake Nash experienced over 10 inches (254 mm) of rain in a single day, with the Georgina River running at almost record high levels.[8] Costello sold the property in 1905.[3]

The area was inundated with 12 inches (305 mm) of rain in 1909, enough to get all the rivers running and reopen closed stock routes.[9]

In 1915 the station was acquired by the Queensland National Pastoral Company which had been formed to take over the pastoral properties owned by the Queensland National Bank. The company had raised capital of £850,000 and had invested in properties totaling 9,362 square miles (24,247 km2)in area of which Lake Nash comprised 2,808 square miles (7,273 km2).[10]

Two Aboriginal men known as Dynamite Joe and Paddy Fraser were arguing over a woman when Dynamite attacked Paddy with an axe causing severe abdominal injuries. Paddy died en route to Cloncurry from internal injuries. Dynamite made his escape but was later caught and sent back to Lake Nash for trial.[11]

In 1917 some 800 head of cattle were stolen from the station with two men, Thomas Hanlan and James Wickham, being arrested after they were found in possession of 200 of the stolen cattle near Frew River. Both men were found to be guilty and sentenced to five years hard labour and fined £100.[12]

By 1923 the size of the property was estimated at 3,400 square miles (8,806 km2) and was one of the larger runs in the Northern Territory, although it was dwarfed by the largest of the day; Victoria River Downs, which occupied 13,100 square miles (33,929 km2).[13]

In 1950, Lake Nash came under scrutiny for using slave labour on the property as pumpers. The station was permitted to use much cheaper native labour only if white labour was not available, but this rule had been found to have been seriously breached by the station owners.[14]

The property was in the grip of drought in 1952 with less than a quarter of the normal number of cattle being led along the Murranji Track.[15] The surrounding areas then received over 4 inches (102 mm) of rain in March 1953 resulting in the Georgina River rising over 23 feet (7 m), the highest level in over 36 years.[16] The following year the property was hit by drought with only 2 inches (51 mm) of rain falling in the first eight months, this in turn meant that cattle could not be moved far from waterholes of bores as little water lay long the stock routes.[17]

Acquired by the Georgina Pastoral Company, a partnership between Peter Hughes and Bill Scott, Scott's son George took up management of the property in 2004.[18] Suffering in the grip of a drought through 2008[19] the area received good rains in the summer of 2009 when the property was still being managed by George Scott and had 20-25 employees working on the station. The station is made up of three separate leases that are run as one entity, the three leases are Lake Nash, Georgina Downs and Argadargada. With a carrying capacity of 55,000 head in a good season including approximately 30,000 cross-bred breeders. The herd is a mix of Santa Gertrudis, Brahman, Charbrais, Senepol and Waggui cattle.[20]

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See also

References
  1. "Northern Territory Pastoral Properties" (PDF). Northern Territory Government. 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 April 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  2. "Lake Nash: video profile of an outback cattle station". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 31 December 2009. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  3. "Out Towards the Sun Set". The North Queensland Register. Townsville, Queensland: National Library of Australia. 16 January 1905. p. 23. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  4. Tindale, Norman Barnett (1974). "Jaroinga (NT)". Aboriginal Tribes of Australia: Their Terrain, Environmental Controls, Distribution, Limits, and Proper Names. Australian National University Press. ISBN 978-0-708-10741-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  5. "Commercial". The Morning Bulletin. Rockhampton, Queensland: National Library of Australia. 8 August 1879. p. 2. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  6. "Port Curtis". The Queenslander. Brisbane, Queensland: National Library of Australia. 16 August 1879. p. 217. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  7. "Stock passing". South Australian Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 19 October 1898. p. 5. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  8. "Floods in the far west". The Brisbane Courier. National Library of Australia. 17 April 1901. p. 4. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  9. "Cattle routes opened". The Chronicle. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 3 April 1909. p. 10. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  10. "New pastoral company". The Queenslander. Brisbane, Queensland: National Library of Australia. 17 April 1915. p. 35. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  11. "Dynamite Joe's dash". Townsville Daily Bulletin. Queensland: National Library of Australia. 20 May 1936. p. 6. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  12. "Theft of Cattle". The Capricornian. Rockhampton, Queensland: National Library of Australia. 21 April 1917. p. 23. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  13. "Making it good for a few. Million acre leases of the Territory". The Northern Standard. Darwin, Northern Territory: National Library of Australia. 18 September 1923. p. 1. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  14. "Slave Labour Used On Lake Nash". The Northern Standard. Darwin, Northern Territory: National Library of Australia. 29 September 1950. p. 1. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  15. "Drought beyond words". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane: National Library of Australia. 30 August 1952. p. 2. Retrieved 7 April 2015.
  16. "Flooding in the North-West areas". The Cairns Post. Queensland: National Library of Australia. 19 January 1953. p. 3. Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  17. "Premier sees effect of rail lack". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane: National Library of Australia. 15 July 1954. p. 12. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  18. Mark Muller (2012). "Stations – In good company". Outback Magazine. R. M. Williams. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  19. "Lake Nash Station, NT – George and Dianne Scott". Kent Saddlery. 13 Jan 2010. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  20. "Lives and Livelihoods". Northern Territory Cattlemen's Association. 2009. Archived from the original on 13 October 2009. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
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