Burke and Wills

The expedition left Melbourne in August 1860 with a large party, wagons, horses and camels. Burke, impatient to beat a rival South Australian expedition led by John McDouall Stuart, split the party, establishing a depot at Cooper Creek.

The dash to the Gulf

In December 1860, Burke, Wills, John King and Charles Gray left the Cooper depot for the Gulf of Carpentaria. In February 1861 they reached tidal waters near present-day Normanton, at Camp 119, but could not reach the open sea through the mangroves. Gray died on the return journey.

The Dig Tree

The depot party, led by William Brahe, waited at Cooper Creek for more than four months. They left on 21 April 1861 — the same day Burke, Wills and King returned. Brahe had buried supplies and carved a message on a coolibah tree, now known as the Dig Tree.

Deaths on the Cooper

Burke and Wills died along Cooper Creek in mid-1861. King survived with the help of the Yandruwandha people, who fed and sheltered him, until a relief party led by Alfred Howitt found him in September 1861.

Sites to visit

• The Dig Tree — near Innamincka.
• Burke, Wills and King memorials — along Cooper Creek near Innamincka.
• Camp 119 — near Normanton.
• Menindee — where the expedition camped in 1860. See Menindee.

Background

In 1860 the Royal Society of Victoria organised the Victorian Exploring Expedition, with funding from the Victorian Government and public subscription. Its goal was to cross the continent from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria, through country Europeans had not mapped, and to report on its potential for settlement and an overland telegraph route. Robert O'Hara Burke, a police officer with little bush experience, was chosen as leader. William John Wills, a young surveyor and astronomer, became his deputy after early resignations in the party.

The expedition departed Royal Park, Melbourne, on 20 August 1860, watched by a large crowd. It carried a huge quantity of supplies and included camels imported for the purpose, along with cameleers. Progress was slow, and disputes led to resignations.

Menindee and the Cooper

The party reached Menindee on the Darling River in October 1860. Burke left much of the party and stores there under William Wright and pushed on with a smaller group to Cooper Creek, where Depot Camp 65 was established. Wright was slow to bring the supplies forward, a delay that would prove fatal.

The return

After failing to reach the open sea, Burke, Wills, King and Gray began the long journey back to the Cooper in the wet season, short of food and increasingly weak. They ate some of their camels and their horse. Gray died in April 1861. When the three survivors reached Depot Camp 65 on the evening of 21 April 1861, they found it deserted; Brahe's party had left only hours earlier. They dug up the buried supplies but, too weak to follow Brahe south, decided to head for Mount Hopeless in South Australia. They failed to find a way across the desert and returned to the Cooper.

The Yandruwandha people gave them fish and nardoo, a seed-bearing fern that is a traditional food when correctly prepared. Burke and Wills both died around late June 1861. Wills's journal survived and is held by the State Library of Victoria.

Rescue and inquiry

Several search parties set out, including Alfred Howitt's from Victoria, John McKinlay's from South Australia, and William Landsborough's and Frederick Walker's from Queensland. Howitt found King in September 1861, living with the Yandruwandha. A Royal Commission in 1862 criticised Burke's leadership and the decisions of others in the expedition. The remains of Burke and Wills were later brought to Melbourne, where they were given a state funeral in January 1863.

Although the expedition is remembered for its failures, the search parties mapped much of inland Australia, and the story has become one of the country's most enduring legends.

The Yandruwandha story

The expedition crossed the Country of many Aboriginal groups, including the Yandruwandha and Yawarrawarrka people of the Cooper Creek region. Their care for King, and their attempts to help Burke and Wills, are an important part of the story often overlooked in older histories. Visitors can learn more at interpretive signs near Innamincka and from local Aboriginal organisations.

Visiting the Dig Tree

The Dig Tree is on the Queensland side of the border, on Nappa Merrie Station, reached by road from Innamincka or via the Adventure Way from Thargomindah. It is a coolibah tree on the bank of Cooper Creek, with carvings now partly overgrown; it is protected and visitors view it from a fenced area. Facilities and fees are managed by the station and Bulloo Shire, so check current arrangements before you go. Camping is available nearby, subject to station conditions.

Roads in the Cooper region are mostly unsealed and close after rain. Check road reports from the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads and the South Australian Department for Infrastructure and Transport, and carry plenty of water and fuel.

Following the route

Travellers can follow parts of the expedition route by road: from Melbourne through Swan Hill and Balranald to Menindee, north to Tibooburra or via the Adventure Way and Thargomindah to Innamincka and the Dig Tree, then north through the Channel Country to Camp 119 near Normanton. Plan carefully, as distances are long, services are limited and many roads are unsealed. See our outback tracks guide and Strzelecki Track for routes into Innamincka.

Nearby park guide: Innamincka Regional Reserve.