Cooktown - Definition and Overview

Cooktown is the northernmost town on the East coast of Australia, located at 15°28' South, 145°17' East on Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, Australia..

History

Cook's Arrival

The site of modern Cooktown was a 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 bank of their river, which they called "Wahalumbaal," about which 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.”

The English crew spent almost seven weeks on the site of the present day Cooktown, repairing their ship, locating food, and caring for the sick. While the wealthy scientist, Joseph Banks, and naturalist Daniel Solander, who accompanied Cook on the expedition, were collecting, preserving and documenting many new species of plants, the young artist Sydney Parkinson was illustrating them. He was the first English artist to portray Aboriginal people from direct observation.

After some weeks, Banks met and talked with the local people, recording about 50 Guugu Yimithirr words including the name of the intriguing animal the natives called gangaroo (which he transcribed as “Kangaru”).

Cook named the river, the “Endeavour,” after his ship and, as they sailed north, he hoisted the flage known as the 'Queen Anne Jack' and took 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, Alan Cunningham, accompanying Captain Phillip 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 on the banks 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 by 1880. At that time, Cooktown boasted a large number of hotels and guest houses. There were 35 licensed hotels within the town boundaries and probably as many 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 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 town now has good communications, more services, better roads, and offers residents a relaxed and healthy lifestyle. About 1,800 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.

References

• Hough, Richard. 1994. Captain James Cook: a biography. Hodder and Stroughton, London. ISBN 0-340-58598-6.
• Pike, Glenville. 1979. Queen of the North: A Pictorial History of Cooktown and Cape York Peninsula. G. Pike. ISBN 0959896058.
• 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.

External Links

• Cooktown Shire Official Web Site (http://www.cooktowns.com/)
• Nature's PowerHouse (http://www.naturespowerhouse.info) in Cooktown's Botanic Gardens.
• [1] (http://www.cooktownhostel.com/walking_guide.html). Pam's Place Budget Hostel - Includes: "Walking Tracks around Cooktown".
• [2] (http://www.jeffress.net/jamworks/celebration/milbi.htm) The Milbi Wall.