Europeans’ depletion of water and confrontation between Horrocks, Gill and several Aboriginal people in the vicinity of Depot Creek, 22 August 1846

Date: 22 Aug 1846
Place: Plains near a steep and rocky hill approximately 34km WNW of Eyre’s camp at Depot Creek
Having persuaded a woman to show them water and confronting two men and a boy armed with spears, explorer John Horrocks and ST Gill ascended a nearby hill. The Europeans realised they were being observed carefully by several groups of Aboriginal people. After drinking again from the waterhole and watering their horses, they passed a ‘very ferocious and threatening’ man and were followed and threatened by six men armed with spears. Gill and Horrocks fired to frighten the men, who reportedly were not afraid. The men laughed at Gill and Horrocks, and set fire to the scrub.
(See 'The South Australian Frontier and its Legacies' for more details.)
Notes:
LocationAccuracy: approximate

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Event mentions

  • Europeans’ depletion of water and confrontation between Horrocks, Gill and several Aboriginal people in the vicinity of Depot Creek, 22 August 1846
    22 Aug 1846 — Plains near a steep and rocky hill approximately 34km WNW of Eyre’s camp at Depot Creek
    Having persuaded a woman to show them water and confronting two men and a boy armed with spears, explorer John Horrocks and ST Gill ascended a nearby hill. The Europeans realised they were being observed carefully by several groups of Aboriginal people. After drinking again from the waterhole and watering their horses, they passed a ‘very ferocious and threatening’ man and were followed and threatened by six men armed with spears. Gill and Horrocks fired to frighten the men, who reportedly were not afraid. The men laughed at Gill and Horrocks, and set fire to the scrub.
    (See 'The South Australian Frontier and its Legacies' for more details.)
    Source: Robert Foster, Skye Krichauff and Amanda Nettelbeck, The South Australian Frontier and its Legacies, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 2024, http://ua.edu.au/south-australian-frontier