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Cooktown (Guugu Yimithirr: Gan.gaarr ) is the northernmost town on the East coast of Australia, located at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, Australia.
History
Cook's Arrival
The site of modern Cooktown was the meeting place of two vastly different cultures when, in June 1770, the local Aboriginal Guugu Yimithirr tribe cautiously watched the crippled sailing vessel – His Majesty's Bark Endeavour – limp up the coast of their territory seeking a safe harbour. They saw it beached in the calm waters near the mouth of their river, which they called "Wahalumbaal." James Cook, wrote, “. . . it was happy for us that a place of refuge was at hand; for we soon found that the ship would not work, and it is remarkable that in the whole course of our voyage we had seen no place that our present circumstances could have afforded us the same relief.”
After some weeks, Banks met and spoke with the local people, recording about 50 Guugu Yimithirr words, including the name of the intriguing animal the natives called gangurru (which he transcribed as “Kangaru”). The kangaroo was first seen by European settlers on Grassy Hill during this trip.
Cook named the river, the “Endeavour,” after his ship, and, as they sailed north, he hoisted the flag known as the 'Queen Anne Jack' and claimed possession of the whole eastern Coast of Australia for Britain. He named Cape York Peninsula after the then HRH the Duke of York.
King's Expedition
The next recorded expedition to the area was nearly 50 years later, when another botanist, Allan Cunningham, accompanying Captain Philip Parker King, visited the remarkable region in 1819-20. He also collected numerous botanical specimens for the British Museum and Kew Gardens.Gold Rush
In 1872, William Hann discovered gold on the Palmer River, southwest of Cooktown. His findings were reported to James Venture Mulligan who led an expedition to the Palmer River in 1873. Mulligan's expedition found quantities of alluvial gold and thus began the gold rush that was to bring prospectors to the Endeavour River from all over the world.The Queensland government responded quickly to Mulligan's reports, and soon a party was dispatched to advise whether the Endeavour River would be a suitable site for a port. Shortly after, a new township was established at the site of the present town, on the southern bank of the Endeavour River.
The Palmer Goldfields, and its centre, Maytown, were growing quickly. The recorded output of gold from 1873 to 1890 was over half a million ounces (or more than 15,500 kg)! Cooktown was the port through which this gold was exported and supplies for the goldfields brought in. Word of the gold quickly spread, and Cooktown was soon thriving, as prospectors arrived from around the world.
Population estimates vary widely, but there were probably around 7,000 people in the area and about 4,000 permanent residents in the town by 1880. At that time, Cooktown boasted a large number of hotels and guest houses. There were 47 licensed pubs within the town boundaries in 1874 although this number had dropped to 27 by the beginning of 1880. There were also a number of illegal grog shops and several brothels. There were bakeries, a brewery and a soft drinks factory, dressmakers and milliners, a brickworks, a cabinetmaker, and two newspapers.
The Chinese played an important role in the early days of Cooktown. They came originally as prospectors, but many established market gardens, supplying the town and the goldfields with fruit, vegetables and rice, while others opened shops.
However, largely through cultural misunderstandings, conflict had broken out between the Aboriginal people and the new settlers, and the diggers. The Cooktown Herald, December 8, 1875, reported, “The natives wholly ignorant of the terrible firepower of fire-arms, and confiding in their numbers, showed a ferocity and daring wholly unexpected and unsurpassed. Grasping the very muzzles of the rifles they attempted to wrest them from the hands of the whites, standing to be shot down, rather than yield an inch....” It was an unequal struggle. Whole tribes were wiped out as European settlement spread over Cape York Peninsula.
Transport was an ongoing problem for the new settlers. Getting supplies and people to the gold fields often took three weeks. After every wet season the tracks and bridges had to be remade. A railway line from Cooktown to Maytown, was planned, but it took five years to get the 67 miles (108 km) to Laura, Queensland – and that is where it stopped. By that time the gold was petering out, so the Queensland Government refused further funding for the venture.
In spite of this, the train proved to be a lifeline for the Peninsula people connecting the hinterland to Cooktown, from where one could catch a boat to Cairns and other southern ports. The line was closed in 1961 after the Peninsula Development Road was built connecting Cooktown and other Peninsula communities with Cairns and the Atherton Tableland to the south.
Cooktown's magnificent Botanic Garden of 62 hectares (154 acres) was established near the town in 1878. Much work was done in the early stages – with wells sunk, water reticulated, garden beds enclosed, stone-lined paths, stone-pitched pools and footbridges were made, and lawns, trees and shrubs planted.
Although the gardens fell into disrepair, in recent years the Gardens have been expanded, and are a favoured destination for botanists and nature lovers. Most of the early stone work has been restored, and beautiful walking tracks lead the visitor through the Botanic Gardens to the magnificent beaches at Finch Bay and Cherry Tree Bay.
In 1881, a bridge over the Endeavour River was completed, which opened up the richer pastoral lands of the Endeavour and McIvor River valleys. Tin was found in the Annan River area, south of Cooktown, in 1884.
In 1886, Lutheran missionaries came to Cooktown to establish a secure place for the Aboriginal people who were living in abominable conditions on the edge of the town. Missions were established at Elim on the beach (later they moved inland to Hopevale), and Wujal Wujal, near the mouth of the Bloomfield River.
With the gold rush over, the number of people living in the area started dwindling. Two major fires struck Cooktown – in 1875 and, again, in 1919 when whole blocks of buildings in the main street were burned to the ground. A major cyclone in 1907 added to the destruction.
World War II
By 1940, little evidence of Cooktown or Maytown's interesting past remained. During the Second World War, Cooktown became an important base for the war effort.Some 20,000 Australian and American troops were stationed in and around the town. The busy airfield played a key role in the crucial Battle of the Coral Sea when Japanese expansion towards the Australian mainland was finally halted.
Most of the population of Cape York Peninsula, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, were moved “down south” for the duration of the War. Many Aboriginal people died when moved from their traditional lands, and many Aboriginal and white families never returned from their exile.
Cooktown since World War II
In 1949, another cyclone devastated the town, and Cooktown's population declined further. With the closure of the rail link to Laura in 1961 and the Peninsula Development Road opened up to the south, the population declined to just a few hundred people before it gradually began to climb again.
Today, there is a harmonious relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal residents in the region. There is an active Aboriginal Community Centre called Gungarde on the main street. The name of the Centre comes from the Aboriginal name for the region and meant "crystals," as rock crystal (which was used in some aboriginal ceremonies) is found near the town. The "Milbi Wall" (or "Story Wall")* marks the place of the first encounter between the British seafarers and the local Aborigines. The Milbi Wall tells the story of Cooktown and the Endeavour River from the perspective of the Aboriginal people . . . and is an outstanding monument to reconciliation.
Cooktown has recently grown in importance again and has become a popular tourist destination. The paving of the Mulligan Highway now provides all-weather access by road for the first time. There are also two flights a day connecting Cooktown with Cairns. The town now has good communications, more services, better roads, and offers residents a relaxed and healthy lifestyle.
About 2,000 people live in the town itself while about another 4,000 in the region use it as a service centre. Visitors enjoy the delightful tropical environment, the historical connections, and use it as an access point to the Great Barrier Reef, the Lakefield National Park, and for fishing.
Cooktown is a service centre for the district including the Aboriginal communities of Hopevale, 47km to the northwest, and Wujal Wujal, 72km to the south.
Cooktown is also the northern end of the Bicentennial Heritage Trail, which, at 5,330 km (3,312 miles), is the longest trail of its type in the world. The southern end of the Trail is at Healesville, a beautiful town, just 52 kilometres north-east of Melbourne, Victoria.
References
- Aughton, Peter. 2002. Endeavour: The Story of Captain Cook's First Great Epic Voyage. Cassell & Co., London.
- Duyker, Edward. 1998. Nature's Argonaut: Daniel Solander 1733-1782: Naturalist and Voyager with Cook and Banks. Melbourne University Press. ISBN 0-522-84753-6
- Edwards, Philip, ed. 2003. James Cook: The Journals. Prepared from the original manuscripts by J. C. Beaglehole 1955-67. Penguin Books, London.
- Hough, Richard. 1994. Captain James Cook: a biography. Hodder and Stroughton, London. ISBN 0-340-58598-6.
- Moon, Ron & Viv. 2003. Cape York: An Adventurer's Guide. 9th edition. Moon Adventure Publications, Pearcedale, Victoria. ISBN 0-9578766-4-5
- O'Brien, Patrick. 1987. Joseph Banks: A Life. The Harvill Press, London. Paperback reprint, 1989. ISBN 1-86046-406-8
- Pike, Glenville. 1979. Queen of the North: A Pictorial History of Cooktown and Cape York Peninsula. G. Pike. ISBN 0959896058.
- Pohlner, Peter. 1986. gangarru. Hopevale Mission Board, Milton, Queensland. ISBN 1-86252-311-8
- Ryan, Michelle and Burwell, Colin, eds. 2000. Wildlife of Tropical North Queensland: Cooktown to Mackay. Queensland Museum, Brisbane. ISBN 0-7242-9349-3.
- Scarth-Johnson, Vera. 2000. National Treasures: Flowering plants of Cooktwon and Northern Australia. Vera Scarth-Johnson Gallery Association, Cooktown. ISBN 0646397265 (pbk); ISBN 0646397257 Limited Edition - Leather Bound.
- Sinclair, Don. 1997. Cooktown at War: A Record of Activities in Cooktown During World War II. Cooktown and District Historical Society.
- Sydney Daily Telegraph. 1970. Captain Cook: His Artists - His Voyages. The Sydney Daily Telegraph Portfolio of Original Works by Artists who sailed with Captain Cook. Australian Consolidated Press, Sydney.
- Thomas, Nicholas. 2003. The Extraordinary Voyages of Captain James Cook. Walker & Co., New York. ISBN 0-8027-1412-9
- Wallace, Lennie. 2000. Nomads of the 19th Century Queensland Goldfields. Central Queensland University Press, Rockhampton. ISBN 1-875998-89-6
- Wallace, Lennie. 2003. Cape York Peninsula: A History of Unlauded Heroes 1845-2003. Central Queensland University Press, Rockhampton. ISBN 1-876780-43-6
- Williams, Glyndwr, ed. 1997. Captain Cook's Voyages: 1768-1779. The Folio Society, London.
External links
- http://www.cooktowns.com/]Cook Shire Official Web Site
- http://www.naturespowerhouse.info Nature's PowerHouse - an Accredited Visitor & Environment Information Centre in the Cooktown Botanic Gardens featuring galleries of wildlife, botanical illustrations, local art, a bookstore and café.
- The Milbi (or 'Story') Wall. Made by local Aboriginal people telling their story and Cooktown's history in ceramic tiles.
- Bicentennial Heritage Track site.
- http://web.telia.com/~u91109884/hem.html The Solander Society website
- http://www.CaptainCookSociety.com The Captain Cook Society website
- http://www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted_sites/banks/banks.html The Life and Works of Sir Joseph Banks.
"Cooktown, Queensland"