
In part 4 of our series, Burke and Wills travel north to Cooper’s Creek, where they establish a supply depot. Burke will spend a month scouting the area, before finally departing for the north coast in mid-December. At Menindee, William Wright waits for money to buy more horses so he can haul all the supplies to Burke’s new camp. Meanwhile, a policeman, Trooper Myles Lyons, strikes out for Cooper’s Creek carrying dispatches for Burke.
Maps
People and Places
- Robert O’Hara Burke – Leader of the Victorian Exploring Expedition (VEE)
- William Wills – British surveyor and astronomer. 2nd-in-command of the expedition.
- Victoria Exploring Expedition (VEE) – The official name of the expedition led by Robert Burke to cross the Australian continent.
- John McDouall Stuart – Scottish explorer who was the chief competitor with the VEE to blaze a route across Australia.
- Hermann Beckler – German doctor and botanist.
- Ludwig Becker – German geologist and naturalist.
- William Wright – Bushman who joined the VEE at Menindee.
- John King – 22-year old ex-soldier. Selected by Burke to be part of the contingent going to the north coast.
- Trooper Myles Lyons – Policeman from Swan Hill bringing dispatches to Robert Burke.
- Alexander McPherson – Saddler who would join Lyons and Dick in an attempt to reach Burke at Cooper’s Creek.
- William Hodgkinson – Journalist who joined the expedition at Swan Hill.
- Dick – Aboriginal Guide who accompanied Burke – and then Lyons – to the north.
- Peter – Aboriginal Guide who accompanied Hermann Beckler to rescue Lyons and MacPherson.
- Thomas McDonough – VEE member who accompanied Burke and Wills to Cooper’s Creek.
- Charley Gray – VEE member who was selected to go with Burke and Wills to the north coast of Australia.
- Cooper’s Creek – River in central Australia. It is about halfway across the continent if someone is traveling between Melbourne and Gulf of Carpentaria in the north. About 750 miles from Melbourne.
- Menindee – Most northerly outpost on the route of the VEE in their trek across Australia. About 400 miles from Melbourne.
- Gulf of Carpentaria – The most direct route from Victoria to the northern coast of Australia – roughly a 1500 mile journey across the continent.
Enjoy the show thanks for good work.. could you include some reference materials and links in the future for further reading..
Thanks…
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Pirate Tim,
I usually wait to the end of all the episodes to cite all my sources, but I should probably just do that up front. For this one, I recommend the following books:
“The Dig Tree: A True Story of Bravery, Insanity, and the Race to Discover Australia’s Wild Frontier” by Sarah Murgatroyd. And “Burke and Wills: The Triumph and Tragedy of Australia’s Most Famous Explorers” by Peter FitzSimons. Both are recent (within the last 20 years), so they are not dated and everything is up-to-date in them. Also, the Burke and Wills Digital Archive has an absolute ton of the original document from the expedition. It is found at http://www.burkeandwills.net.au/index.php
I will include these in future episodes on the site. And link to them in the show notes.
Thanks.
Matt B.
The Explorers Podcast
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