Avenue Range Station massacre facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Avenue Range Station massacre
Part of Australian frontier wars
Avenue Range Station Location in Australia
Coordinates	36°42′40″S 140°09′48″E / 36.71104°S 140.16339°E / -36.71104; 140.16339
Date	~September 1848
Attack type	Massacre
Weapons	Firearms
Deaths	Nine to eleven
Victims	Aboriginal people
Motive	Aboriginal resistance to being forced off their traditional lands

The Avenue Range Station massacre was a tragic event where a group of Aboriginal Australians lost their lives. It happened around September 1848. This event took place at Avenue Range, a large sheep station in the southeast of the Colony of South Australia. It was part of the wider Australian frontier wars, which were conflicts between Aboriginal people and European settlers.

Not many details are known about the massacre. We don't know the exact date or how many people were killed. One report from that time said nine people died. Another report from 1880, written by Christina Smith, said eleven people were killed. She also said they were from the Tanganekald people.

A sheep farmer named James Brown and his overseer, Eastwood, were thought to be responsible. People believed they acted in response to attacks on Brown's sheep.

In January 1849, news of the massacre reached Matthew Moorhouse. He was the Protector of Aborigines, a person whose job was to look after the rights of Aboriginal people. Moorhouse went to the area to investigate. Based on what he found, Brown was charged with the killings in March 1849. The legal process against Brown started in June 1849 and continued for several months. However, the case was eventually dropped.

Some important witnesses, like Eastwood, either left the colony or refused to help. Also, laws at the time made it very hard for Aboriginal people's statements to be fully used in court. This was especially true in serious cases. These legal challenges and the support among settlers meant the case never went to a full trial. Even so, the magistrate who sent Brown to trial believed the killings had happened and knew who was likely responsible.

Even though the details were known for many years, later stories about the massacre changed over time. These new accounts sometimes made the event seem less serious. For example, some stories claimed Brown poisoned the victims instead of shooting them. Other stories added that Brown made a long horse ride to Adelaide to create an alibi, meaning he wanted to prove he was somewhere else. Historians say these changes made the crime seem less severe.

Early Days in South Australia

Location in South Australia

The colony of South Australia was started by white settlers in December 1836. By early 1839, settlers began moving out from the capital city, Adelaide. In May of that year, James Brown and his brother Archibald arrived from Scotland. The next year, they started a property near Encounter Bay, about 100 kilometres (62 miles) south of Adelaide.

James Brown then started his own property called Avenue Range. It was a large sheep farm, about 178 square kilometres (69 square miles) in size. This farm was located about 270 kilometres (168 miles) southeast of Adelaide.

Like other parts of Australia, settlers in southeast South Australia used different methods to deal with Aboriginal resistance. Aboriginal people were being forced off their traditional lands. At first, settlers tried to keep them away with threats. Soon, they used actual violence, hoping to stop Aboriginal people from interfering with their sheep and other property.

Violence by settlers against Aboriginal people was often not reported to the authorities. It became even more secret after a settler was punished in March 1847 for killing an Aboriginal man. This was the only time such a punishment happened in early South Australia. This hidden fighting between settlers and Aboriginal people is considered part of the Australian frontier wars.

The Massacre and Investigation

Reports reached the authorities in January 1849 that some Aboriginal people had been killed. This happened near Guichen Bay. On February 19, Matthew Moorhouse, the Protector of Aborigines, arrived to investigate. His job was to protect the rights of Aboriginal people. He started his investigation with a mounted policeman, an interpreter, and an Aboriginal guide.

An Aboriginal witness named Leandermin led Moorhouse to where the killings supposedly happened. Leandermin told Moorhouse that he and a white man named Parker were walking when they heard shots. He went to see what was happening. From behind some trees, he saw four or five wounded Aboriginal women on the ground. He also saw others on the ground who were not moving, so he thought they were dead. Two white men were there. Leandermin said Brown was one of them and had a gun. Brown's overseer, Eastwood, was thought to be involved too.

Moorhouse and his group then looked at the site. They found five graves. Nearby, they found cartridge paper from a gun. The exact date of the massacre is not clear. Moorhouse's first report in March 1849 said it happened "some months before." His later report in October 1849 said it was "about September" of 1848.

James Brown, a sheep farmer who was accused of killing "unknown aboriginal natives."

On March 1, 1849, Brown was charged with the murder of "unknown aboriginal natives." In late March or early April, he appeared before a local judge, Captain G. V. Butler. The judge decided that Brown should face a trial.

Brown's trial began in the Supreme Court of South Australia in Adelaide on June 11, 1849. The judge thought there wasn't enough evidence. He gave the prosecution another week to find more proof. The case was weak because of the Aboriginal Witnesses Act of 1848. This law made it difficult to use statements from Aboriginal witnesses.

It was generally believed that Aboriginal people could not understand the special promise (oath) made in court. The Act allowed their statements without an oath, but with two big limits. The court could decide how much to believe Aboriginal statements. More importantly, if a crime could lead to serious punishment, the statements of "uncivilised person or persons" were not enough unless other proof was found.

A week later, the judge still wasn't convinced. But because there was "great suspicion," he gave the prosecution more time. He also let Brown go on bail after Brown paid £500.

In July 1849, the South Australian Advocate General (a legal officer) summarized the investigation. There were many problems. Parker denied knowing anything about the crime. Other people who were thought to have heard about it also denied it. Brown's helper, Eastwood, had run away when the investigation started. He seemed to have left the colony on a whaling ship. An important witness named Joice had gone to another colony. Leandermin, the main witness, had also disappeared. It was even suggested he might have been "made away with." The remaining witnesses knew Brown and would not speak against him.

Despite these challenges, the Advocate General ordered the investigation to continue. Warrants were issued to arrest those who had fled. Brown appeared in the Supreme Court again on September 10 and 28. But the judge still refused to hear the case without more evidence. By November, Brown's case was removed from the court list. This was the end of the official investigation.

Because of the laws and the way settlers supported each other, Brown was never formally tried for the killings. This happened even though those investigating believed he was responsible. Perhaps because of Brown's case, the Aboriginal Witnesses Act of 1848 was changed in July 1849. The new law allowed a person to be found guilty based only on an Aboriginal person's statement.

Later Stories and Legends

In 1880, while Brown was still alive, a missionary named Christina Smith wrote a book. It was called The Booandik Tribe of South Australian Aborigines. The book included stories from her time in the Rivoli Bay area. One story was about an Aboriginal boy named Wergon, whom she had adopted. Wergon had become a Christian and traveled to try and convert other Aboriginal people.

On one trip, he visited the Wattatonga tribe. Their traditional lands included the new Avenue Range Station. Wergon returned to tell Smith that eleven people from the tribe had been killed by two white men. Wergon brought a witness whose parents had supposedly been killed in the massacre. The reason for the killings seemed to be that sheep belonging to a settler had been killed. Smith's story didn't say how the massacre happened. But it did say that it was investigated and the killer was released because there wasn't enough evidence. Smith did not name the settlers. Historians believe she didn't name Brown because he was still alive and living nearby when her book was published.

The Legend of James Brown

James Brown became very rich from his sheep farms. By the 1860s, he owned about 470 square kilometres (181 square miles) of land. He died in February 1890. Three years later, Simpson Newland published a novel called Paving the Way, a Romance of the Australian Bush. This book included fictional stories based on real events.

One story in the book was about Roland Grantley, a farm owner, and his overseer "Darkie." In this story, Grantley and Darkie shoot a group of Aboriginal people. This was in response to attacks on shepherds and the killing of sheep. The story says 10–12 Aboriginal people were killed, and many more were hurt. The police investigate. Darkie, not wanting to get his boss in trouble, runs away on Grantley's best horse. He uses his bush skills to escape his pursuers. He even swims the horse across the mouth of the Murray River. Then he finds a ride on a whaling ship. This story, even with made-up names, was very similar to the known facts of the case against Brown.

In Rodney Cockburn's 1927 book, The Pastoral Pioneers of South Australia, Brown was described as a very generous person. His wife used his money to start "two great charitable institutions." These were the Kalyra Consumptive Home and Estcourt House Convalescent Home. Cockburn noted that Brown didn't get much public attention. He explained that Brown had faced a "severe set back" early in his career. This was after being accused of "poisoning a blackfellow." Cockburn claimed Brown was found not guilty by a jury. He defended Brown's reputation, saying the poisoning incident was just part of "the circumstances and conditions of the day."

Historians point out that there is no proof Brown was involved in a poisoning. Even though poisonings of Aboriginal people did happen in the colony before Brown arrived. They also note that Brown only appeared in court once, for the shooting of the Aboriginal group in 1848, which never went to trial. They think the shooting story might have gotten mixed up with a poisoning that happened on the west coast of the colony around the same time. That poisoning also got a lot of news coverage.

In 1939, Clement Smith, a Member of Parliament, mentioned Brown during a speech. He said the story was in Paving the Way. He spoke of "many natives" being killed. He also said he had personally seen "large quantities of bones of those natives" where they were shot. He then talked about Brown making an epic horse ride from his farm to Adelaide. He said Brown swam across the Murray River to meet his bail conditions. Historians note that Smith was trying to show the violence against Aboriginal people. But he turned the story into "an account of a pioneer's heroic horse ride."

In 1944, a local historian, J. G. Hastings, wrote a manuscript called The History of the Coorong. This book greatly influenced the legend of James Brown. In it, Hastings added more details to the poisoning story. He claimed Brown poisoned some flour and left it for Aboriginal people. They supposedly stole and ate it, and many died. After setting the trap, Brown rode to Adelaide to create an alibi. He swam across the Murray Mouth on his way. Hastings wrote that at Brown's trial, it was claimed that he couldn't have poisoned the flour and appeared in Adelaide so quickly.

Hastings claimed there was no mention of the case in police records. Instead, he said the story was told to him by people who knew Brown. He also said it happened between 1860 and 1870. Historians say this date is unlikely. Violence on the frontier was decreasing by 1848. By the 1860s, Aboriginal workers were highly valued by farmers. This was because many white workers had left for the Victorian gold rush.

From the 1950s onwards, stories about Brown often appeared in local histories. These included Elma Smith's History of Kingston (1950) and Verne McLaren's Kingston Flashbacks (1970). In Smith's version, the original crime wasn't discussed. The focus was on the horse ride to Adelaide. McLaren's account split the legend into two parts. One was about a poisoning by Brown. The other was about Brown and a helper trapping Aboriginal people in caves, smoking them out, and shooting them. McLaren's second story also ended with Brown's famous ride to Adelaide. Another story was in Barry Durman's A History of the Baker's Range Settlement (1978). Durman included a newspaper article about the investigation into Brown. He didn't focus on how the killings happened. He said the case wasn't proven. Then he talked about Brown's "wonderful feat of horsemanship."

Aboriginal versions of the story also exist. In 1987, an elderly Aboriginal man shared a version. In his story, Brown shot some Aboriginal people and poisoned others for stealing his sheep. Brown then rode to Adelaide to create his alibi. In the same year, Hastings' story was repeated in a book called The Coorong and Lakes of the Lower Murray. Three years later, the South Australian Education Department published a book for students. It repeated Hastings' version. It then included an Aboriginal version told by George Trevorrow, a Ngarrindjeri man. His family was from the Guichen Bay area. Trevorrow described how white settlers used Aboriginal workers. He said that when food was scarce, Aboriginal people would take flour from landowners. He didn't name Brown. But he said a settler poisoned some flour and rode to Adelaide to create an alibi. Historians note that while these two stories were similar, Hastings showed Brown as a victim. Trevorrow, however, highlighted how white people took advantage of Aboriginal people.

As of 2022, the James Brown Memorial Trust still operates. It was formed from Brown's estate. It is now called Kalyra Communities and provides aged care services in South Australia. The name "Kalyra" is recorded as the Aboriginal name for James Brown's station. It refers to a type of wood used by Aboriginal people to make spears.

How the Story Changed

Historians believe it's unlikely there were two separate events: a shooting that was investigated and a poisoning that wasn't. This is because Brown's court appearance is in both stories. But he only appeared in court for the shooting. They suggest that the original story of the shooting was changed over time. It became part of a "pioneer legend." In this legend, Brown is remembered more for a long horse ride than for the tragic event.

This change also turned a cold-blooded shooting into a sly poisoning. In the poisoning story, the Aboriginal victims are seen as partly responsible because they stole the flour. Historians say that by focusing on a poisoning instead of a shooting, the story makes the crime seem less serious. Also, the killing of Aboriginal people became just a small part of the story. The horse ride became the main focus of the legend. They conclude that how the story changed shows how much the "pioneer legend" influenced how white Australians viewed the past.

See Also

• List of massacres of Indigenous Australians

Images for kids

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  James Brown, a sheep farmer who was accused of killing "unknown aboriginal natives."