Tracking an epic 19th-century journey through the amazing outback in 112 posts.

As much as America celebrates its Wild West frontiersmen, Australia looks fondly on its own outback pioneers, and while legends like that of Ned Kelly have spread beyond the country thanks to popular films, the mythical Burke-Wills Expedition of 1860-61 holds a special place in Aussie hearts that few non-Australians can truly appreciate.
There have in fact been several home-crowd movies about the four men who walked across a whole continent 145 years ago, and the astonishingly brave and tragic things that happened en route, but even here a great deal of mystery and misinformation clouds the story. The popular website HistoryHouse.com has respun the yarn, but its derision does no justice to the immense undertaking and its outcome.

The state of Victoria was at the time a fledgling colony of the British Empire, established just nine years earlier. Melbourne itself was only just marking its first quarter century. Beyond the city limits was a "ghastly blank". It's been noted, rather picturesquely, that we know more about Pluto today than Melbourne's citizens knew in 1860 about the land north of the nearby Darling River. But gold had just been discovered in the area, and there was likely more out there. It was agreed that a properly kitted-out group could find it, while at the same time advancing science, finding new grazing land and of course extending the colony's boundaries.

Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills set out from Melbourne on the south coast with 19 men and the intention of exploring Australia's unknown interior as far as the northern shore, a journey of 1,650 miles � 2,660 kilometres. They completed the trek north, getting as far as the swampland on the Gulf of Carpentaria, if not the actual coast, but bad decisions and worse luck resulted in the deaths of both Wills and Burke and five others on the return trip. Only one man, in fact, returned home alive, all the rest having bolted the expedition � or been jettisoned from it � at different times.

This Google Earth tour ends in Melbourne General Cemetery, just a few metres from where the great adventure began.



UPDATE MAY 12/06: Huge thanks to Ozlingula, whose knowledge of his home country and how to find your way around it has enabled me to greatly improve the accuracy of many of the placemarks on this tour. He's also personally visited and photographed the scene of the most crucial place on the expedition, the famous Dig Tree site. His help and recommendations have been so extensive, in fact, that he truly deserves co-authorship. Amazing stuff, Chris.
Big thanks also to JuliaM for the camel logo and other suggestions that have greatly enhanced the appeal of the post. Team effort!

UPDATE SEPT 14/06: Thanks to Skewer for noticing that the wrong racecourse was posted as Flemington! That's now corrected.

UPDATE MARCH 24/07: Thanks to higher-resolution images in the Aussie Outback and especially to some very much appreciated on-the-spot reporting from StephenF10, the expedition's crucial Depot Camp, site of the famous Dig Tree, is now confirmed and viewable. Stephen has also identified the exact location of the King memorial and the Pamamaroo camp near Menindee.

VIEWING NOTES: The tour is best viewed with all layers disabled except for terrain. Unless otherwise indicated, the locations of the camps are approximate, a best guess based on descriptions of the area and information gleaned from the Internet and provided by forum member ozlingula.
PLEASE SEE also the KML attachment in the comments section below to ensure you have the latest version of the post.

LINKS: There's a great deal of contradictory material and outright error floating around about the expedition (and if anyone spots some here, please let me know), but for the best read, by far the most authoritative and exhaustive source is Burke & Wills Web by David Phoenix of Cairns.
Much detailed information is also available from the National Library of Australia and the State Library of Victoria and Wikipedia has an excellent overview.
Two descendants of Wills followed the expedition's trail not long ago and documented it here, and then there is the comic relief at History House, which quotes with lips smacking from Tim Bonyhady's book "Burke and Wills: From Melbourne to Myth".

Greetings Dorseyland,

This is a masterly study. Congratulations! I had thought of attempting it myself on various occasions, but the prospect of accurately positioning camp sites and the actual route taken I found daunting. I have not been through your tour in any detail yet, but will do so when time permits. Your post is certainly a "keeper".

BTW, I am not at all sure if it was intentional on your part to be illustrative rather that exact, or simply a difficulty in finding the accurate position, but the "Dig Tree" on the Cooper is located at approximately -27.6182 141.0782. I am surprised that it appears that no one else has ever posted a placemark there. I'll leave it to you do so if you want to.

regards,

ozlingula

Thanks, Ozlingula. You'll find as you proceed on the tour that accuracy isn't always stringent, as I said in the introduction. However, Camp 65, the Dig Tree camp, is situated according to the latitude and longitude reading given by Alfred Howitt, the lead rescue bloke. He was just southeast of what you have. I've never been to Australia, though, so if you're quite certain of the position -- on the north side of the creek -- I'm happy to move the main marker. You'll notice that I have other "Camp 65" placemarks scattered around there so that repeat visits by the explorers and searchers aren't piled in one place. Now that's illustrative!
Looking forward to further suggestions.

The original tour file has been updated. Here's the KML network link needed to view the embedded images that might otherwise be deleted or lost if temporary files are deleted or downloaded files are moved after the tour has been first opened.

Another great post, Paul - I missed it first time around. I've made it sticky for a few days to let others have the chance to see it.

Thanks a million, Frank -- I really appreciate that.

Good Stuff D.

The W & B story is a great tale.

good work

Great work.

A small correction though. The location for "Burke & Wills 106: The news reaches home" is on the wrong racecourse.
It is currently pointing to Moonee Ponds Racecourse.

Flemington Racecourse is to the south west of Moonee Ponds.
Lat=37�47'21.02"S Lon=144�54'21.67"E

I'll try to attach the current KML.

Rgds
Skewer.

I wouldn't call that a "small correction"! Thanks a lot, Skewer. It's now been fiixed. And good luck at the races.

Congratulations, Dorseyland. A great effort.

I visited Menindee and the Dig Tree last year. Before the trip I read as much as I could about the Burke and Wills expedition so that I could understand the history of some of the places I would be visiting. The Dig Tree is at -27.623917� 141.075717�, on the bend of the creek south of where you have it. There is a shed at -27.622168� 141.073202� which has a B&W display and information. From there a track leads southeast to the tree. I recorded Kings Marker at -27.775667� 140.678583� but the other points are very close to your positions. There is a marker for the Pamamaroo camp near Menindee at -32.304667� 142.498600�.

Regards,
Stephen.