River of Gold: The Story of the Palmer River Gold Rush

Outback Classic Series. Reprint. Includes notes on cannibalism, depredation by natives, killings; punitive measures against Aborigines – babies abandoned in flight; types of weapons noted; native police; Survey of early exploration; contacts made by Christie Palmerston & James Mulligan. 217 p., [10] p. of plates : 2 maps ; 19 cm. (Name on fep, age tanning) #0120

The Palmer River goldfield, comprising the river and several of its tributaries, is 140 km south-west of Cooktown. The river’s headwaters are on the western side of the Daintree National Park and run toward the Gulf of Carpentaria. There were numerous settlements and townships including (travelling from west to east) Palmerville, Maytown, Idatown and Byerstown. Palmerville was superseded by Maytown as the district’s administrative centre.

In 1872 the pastoralist-explorers William and Frank Hann were commissioned by the Queensland Government to explore Cape York. They reported finding traces of gold on the Palmer River and the following year James Mulligan, an experienced prospector, confirmed plentiful alluvial gold. A rush began, with prospectors overlanding form the Etheridge goldfield or from the Endeavour River inlet where Cooktown had sprung up in a few months.From Cooktown there were several tracks to the goldfield, all in an anti-clockwise arc. A shortcut to Maytown involved passing through a narrow rocky gorge which became known as Hells Gate. It proved to be a dangerous place of ambush as Aborigines took revenge or resisted invasion by the European miners. As Chinese miners entered Cooktown, they too were ambushed.

The Palmer River was named after Arthur Palmer, Premier of Queensland (1870-74), who commissioned the Hann brothers’ exploration. The first rudimentary settlement on the goldfield was the westernmost Palmerville (at first named Palmerston). Gold mines and mining — Queensland — Palmer River Valley — History. | Palmer River Valley (Qld.) — History.