Canning Stock Route: A Traveller’s Guide

The Canning Stock Route is a track that runs from Halls Creek in the Kimberley region of Western Australia to Wiluna in the mid-west region. With a total distance of around 1,850 km (1,150 mi) it is the longest historic stock route in the world.The stock route was proposed as a way of breaking a monopoly that west Kimberley cattlemen had on the beef trade at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1906, the Government of Western Australia appointed Alfred Canning to survey the route. When the survey party returned to Perth, Canning’s treatment of Aboriginal guides came under scrutiny leading to a Royal Commission. Canning had been organising Aboriginal hunts to show the explorer where the waterholes were. Despite condemning Canning’s methods, the Royal Commission, after the Lord Mayor of Perth, Alexander Forrest had appeared as a witness for Canning, exonerated Canning and his men of all charges. The cook who made the complaints was dismissed and Canning was sent back to finish the job.Canning was appointed to lead a construction party and between March 1908 and April 1910, 48 wells were completed along the route. Commercial droving began in 1910, but the stock route did not prove popular and was rarely used for the next twenty years. The wells made it difficult for Aboriginal people to access water and in reprisal they vandalised or dismantled many of the wells.A 1928 Royal Commission into the price of beef in Western Australia led to the repair of the wells and the re-opening of the stock route. Around 20 droves took place between 1931 and 1959 when the final droving run was completed.The Canning Stock Route is now a popular but challenging four-wheel drive trek typically taking 10 to 20 days to complete. A few adventurers have traversed the track on foot, by bicycle, and in two-wheel drivevehicles.There are two small settlements on the track where fuel and other supplies may be obtained; Kunawarritjiapproximately 1,000 km north of Wiluna and Billiluna 173 km south of Halls Creek.The building of the stock route impacted on the cultural and social life of the more than 15 Aboriginal language groups and today the Aboriginal history of the track, recorded through oral and artistic traditions, is increasingly being recognised.xxii, 546 p., [8] p. of plates : ill., maps, ports. ; 22 cm. Second Edition. Stock routes — Western Australia. | Canning Stock Route (W.A.) | Western Australia — Guidebooks. SCARCE #0119