Campaspe Plains massacre facts for kids

The Campaspe Plains massacre took place in June 1839 in Central Victoria, Australia. It was a violent attack by European settlers and police against Aboriginal people. This event was a response to resistance from the Aboriginal people. It happened as settlers moved onto and took over the lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung and Taungurung peoples. Charles Hutton took control of a large area of land called the Campaspe run in 1838. This land was near the border of Dja Dja Wurrung and Taungurung territories.

What Led to the Conflict?

In April 1839, five Indigenous people were killed by three white men. In response, two European men, Hugh Bryan and James Neill, were killed in May 1839. Aboriginal people, believed to be from the Taungurung group, were responsible. They also took bedding, clothes, guns, and ammunition from a hut. They drove away about 700 sheep. This might have been a way to get back at the settlers for the earlier deaths of Aboriginal people. The Taungurung people were sometimes in conflict with the Dja Dja Wurrung.

The Events of the Massacre

After the deaths of Bryan and Neill, Charles Hutton quickly gathered a group of armed settlers. They followed the Aboriginal group and found them with the sheep about 30 miles (48 km) away. This was near the Campaspe Creek. A fight broke out between the settlers and the Aboriginal people. It lasted for up to half an hour. Hutton later said privately that nearly 40 Aboriginal people were killed during this clash.

The next month, Hutton led a group of mounted police. They came across a group of local Dja Dja Wurrung people. Hutton had previously forced these people off his land. Even so, they had been friendly to him since he arrived. The police and Hutton suddenly attacked the Aboriginal camp near the Campaspe Creek without any warning. Six Dja Dja Wurrung people were shot in the back and killed as they tried to run away. Others were wounded.

Charles Parker, who was an Assistant Protector of Aborigines for the area, described the attack. He called it a planned, illegal act of revenge against the Aboriginal people. He noted that many people at the time believed that if one person from a tribe committed an offense, the whole tribe should suffer for it.

George Robinson, another official, wrote about Charles Hutton's views on Aboriginal people in his journal in January 1840. Hutton believed in using fear to control them. He thought they should be punished as a whole group, meaning entire tribes. He said if one person from a tribe did something wrong, the whole tribe should be destroyed. He even believed that Aboriginal people should be wiped out.

No official action was ever taken against Charles Hutton for these events.

See also

• Dja Dja Wurrung people
• Taungurung people
• List of massacres in Australia
• List of massacres of Indigenous Australians