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'In 1883, pastoralists began to drive great herds of cattle into the Victoria River District of Australia's Northern Territory. They entered a vast tropical land of big rivers, wide plains, and rugged ranges. It was a cattleman's paradise, but it was also a paradise for the Aboriginal people who had lived there for thousands of years. Each side came to see the other as the serpent in the garden - a serpent that had to be banished - and a 20 year war ensued. The cattlemen won, but it was a pyrrhic victory. The coming of the cattle began the destruction of this paradise for both groups. The frontiersmen who came to the district included cattle and horse thieves, outlaws, capitalists, dreamers, drunks, madmen, and others. Together, they established massive stations of up to 12,000 square miles on the traditional lands of the Wardaman, Nungali, Ngaliwuru, and Karangpurru people. This book examines them all, from the explorers of the 1830s and 1850s, to the founders of the big stations in the 1880s and 1890s, and finally at the 'golden era' of the cattle duffers in the early 1900s. Drawing on painstaking research into obscure though rich documentary sources, Aboriginal oral traditions, and first-hand investigations in the region over 35 years, the book pieces together the complex interactions between the environment, the powerful and warlike Aboriginal tribes, and the settlers and their cattle, which produced what truly became A Wild History.' (Source: Goodreads website)
Notes
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Contents:
First Contact
The Advance Scouts of Settlement
The Coming of the Cattle
Unquiet Times
Jaspers Gorge
Captain Joe's Bradshaw
The Wild Wardaman Warriors
The Victoria River Sheep Saga
Hard-Riding Individualists
The Nest of Reputed Thieves
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Scar Tissue : Searching for Retribution Camp
2019
single work
essay
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October no. 415 2019; (p. 14-16)'At first I can’t make out the inscription, even though I’m searching for it. Smooth new bark has grown into the cuts, bulging around the incision, preserving the words on the trunk. I run my hand across the surface, tracing the grooves, feeling the letters: R-E-T-R-I-B-U-T-I-O-N. And below, in slightly larger hand, ‘CAMP’.'(Introduction)
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A Wild History : Life and Death on the Victoria River Frontier (second Edition) [Book Review]
2013
single work
review
— Appears in: Northern Territory Historical Studies , no. 24 2013; (p. 95-96)
— Review of A Wild History : Life and Death on the Victoria River Frontier 2011 single work non-fiction -
Untitled
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: Aboriginal History , January vol. 36 no. 2012; (p. 213-214)
— Review of A Wild History : Life and Death on the Victoria River Frontier 2011 single work non-fiction
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Untitled
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: Aboriginal History , January vol. 36 no. 2012; (p. 213-214)
— Review of A Wild History : Life and Death on the Victoria River Frontier 2011 single work non-fiction -
A Wild History : Life and Death on the Victoria River Frontier (second Edition) [Book Review]
2013
single work
review
— Appears in: Northern Territory Historical Studies , no. 24 2013; (p. 95-96)
— Review of A Wild History : Life and Death on the Victoria River Frontier 2011 single work non-fiction -
Scar Tissue : Searching for Retribution Camp
2019
single work
essay
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , October no. 415 2019; (p. 14-16)'At first I can’t make out the inscription, even though I’m searching for it. Smooth new bark has grown into the cuts, bulging around the incision, preserving the words on the trunk. I run my hand across the surface, tracing the grooves, feeling the letters: R-E-T-R-I-B-U-T-I-O-N. And below, in slightly larger hand, ‘CAMP’.'(Introduction)
- Victoria,
- Northern Territory,