Kimberley historical timeline

This timeline is a selected list of events and locations of the development of the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Date	Event	Location	Notes
c 120,000 BP	Wolfe Creek Crater formed by meteorite impact	Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater National Park
17-25,000 BP	Estimated age of Gwion Gwion (Bradshaws) rock art	Roe River
c 4000 BP	Estimated age of Wandjina rock art	North-West Kimberley
1688	William Dampier, first European to the region, sails along the coast	Cape Leveque and King Sound	^[1]
1699	William Dampier return journey, leaves after an altercation with Indigenous Australians after a man is killed		^[1]
c 1720	Visits of Makassan trepang fishermen begin	Niiwalarra
1803	Nicolas Baudin sails along the coast charting Cape Bougainville	Admiralty Gulf	^[2]
1819	Philip Parker King sails along the coast in HMS Mermaid surveying the coastline	Cambridge Gulf and King Sound
1820	HMS Mermaid grounded and repaired at Careening Cove, Coronation Island	Coronation Island
1837	Lieutenants George Grey and Franklin Lushington, and 12 men sailed on the schooner Lynher from Cape Town to Hanover Bay and explore inland	Hanover Bay
1861	The giant North West pearl oyster the Pinctada maxima was discovered in Roebuck Bay by the crew of the Dolphin.	Roebuck Bay and Eighty Mile Beach	^[3]^[4]
1864	First white settlement made at Camden Harbour, soon abandoned	Camden Sound
1865	La Grange expedition shoots dead several Aboriginal men in retaliation for deaths of three white men	Lagrange Bay
1879	Alexander Forrest trekked across from the western coast to the Northern Territory. Forrest named the Kimberley district, Margaret River, Ord River and the King Leopold Ranges	Kimberley
1879	Charles Harper suggested to the Legislative Council that Roebuck Bay be set up as a port for the pearling industry	Roebuck Bay	^[1]
1880	The Murray Squatting Company take up leases in the newly opened West Kimberley	Yeeda
1881	The Kimberley Squatting Company take up the lease for Liveringa Station	Liveringa	^[5]
1881	First ships using pearl diving equipment arrive in Roebuck Bay, revolutionizing the pearling industry	Roebuck Bay	^[3]^[4]
1882	The Victorian Squatting Company take up leases on the Drysdale River	Drysdale River Station	^[6]
1883	The townsite of Derby is named and established with a Government resident	Derby	^[7]
1883	Townsite for Broome chosen by John Forrest, town proclaimed later the same year	Broome	^[1]
1883	Leases issued to the MacDonald and MacKenzie families for lands along the Fitzroy River	Fossil Downs Station	^[8]
1885	Construction of wooden jetty at Derby completed	Derby	^[7]
1885	Gold rush at Halls Creek following discovery by prospectors Charles Hall and John Slattery	Halls Creek	^[9]
1885	Gogo cattle station established by the Emanuel family	Gogo Station
1886	Townsite of for Wyndham chosen by John Forrest	Wyndham
1887	140 lives lost when pearling fleet hit by cyclone	off Broome
1887	Lots at townsite for Halls Creek laid out	Halls Creek	^[9]
1887	Apostolic Vicariate of Kimberley (later Catholic Diocese of Broome) established	Broome
1889	Broome connected to Java by telegraph cable landed at Cable Beach	Cable Beach
1890	Trappist monks establish Beagle Bay mission	Beagle Bay
1891	Pastoralist Joseph Bradshaw discovers Gwion Gwion rock paintings	Roe River
1893	Michael and Patrick Durack establish Carlton Hill and Ivanhoe cattle stations	Carlton Hill Station and Ivanhoe Station	^[10]
1894	Townsite of Halls Creek gazetted	Halls Creek	^[9]
1894	Shootout between posse of white police and settlers and aboriginal band led by Jandamarra	Windjana Gorge
1897	Jandamarra shot dead by tracker Micki	Tunnel Creek
1900	Daisy Bates visits Beagle Bay and Broome and reports on conditions	Broome, Beagle Bay
1908	Construction of wells along Canning Stock Route commences	Halls Creek
1908	Benedictines establish Drysdale River Mission	Kalumburu
1908	Irish Sisters of St John of God establish convent in Broome	Broome	^[11]
1910	Construction of wells along Canning Stock Route completed	Wiluna
1913	Forrest River Mission re-established by Anglican Church, run by Ernest Gribble	Oombulgurri
1915	Several indigenous people killed in Mistake Creek massacre	Mistake Creek, near Lake Argyle
1916	Sun Picture Gardens outdoor cinema opens	Broome
1918	Beagle Bay church with pearl shell altar opened	Beagle Bay
1920	Broome race riots between Japanese and Indonesians, leaving 8 dead	Broome
1926	Punitive expedition kills unknown number of Aboriginal persons in Forrest River massacre	Oombulgurri
1931	Fr Worms begins research on Yawuru language and culture	Broome
1932	Two German aviators rescued by aboriginal fishermen after forced landing on Kimberley coast	Berkeley River
1936	Derby Leprosarium opened, staffed by nuns led by Sr Mary Gertrude.	Derby	^[12]
1938	Australia's only order of aboriginal nuns founded	Broome	^[13]
1939	Isaac Steinberg arrives in Perth to promote Kimberley Plan to resettle Jewish refugees in northern Australia	Perth
1942	Japanese planes attack Broome, killing at least 88	Broome
1943	Drysdale River mission bombed by Japanese, killing 6	Kalumburu
1944	Construction of Mungalalu Truscott Airbase completed	Mungalalu Truscott Airbase
1945	Frank Lacy established Mount Elizabeth cattle station	Mount Elizabeth Station	^[14]
1949	Air Beef Scheme commences operation	Glenroy Station	^[9]
1949	Townsite of Halls Creek moved 12 kilometres (7 mi) west after flooding and regazetted	Halls Creek	^[9]
1951	BHP commence mining Iron ore at Cockatoo Island	Cockatoo Island	^[15]
1957	Lease for Home Valley taken up by Harold MacNamara	Home Valley Station	^[16]
1959	Construction of barrages and 17-mile dam completed for Camballin Irrigation Scheme	Camballin	^[17]
1959	BHP commence mining Iron ore at Koolan Island	Koolan Island	^[18]
1959	Mary Durack's book Kings in Grass Castles tells the story of her grandfather Patrick Durack's overland trek from Queensland to the Kimberley
1960	Construction of Ord River Diversion dam commences	Ord River
1961	Townsite for Kununurra is proclaimed	Kununurra	^[19]
1962	Air Beef Scheme operations cease	Glenroy Station	^[20]
1963	Construction of Ord River Diversion dam completed forming Lake Kununurra	Lake Kununurra	^[21]
1967	Nurse and aviator Robin Miller begins outback flights delivering polio vaccine
1969	Construction of Ord River main dam commences	Ord River
1972	Construction of Ord River main dam completed forming Lake Argyle	Lake Argyle	^[21]
1975	Townsite of Fitzroy Crossing is gazetted, town has existed since the 1900s	Fitzroy Crossing
1978	Kimberley Land Council formed	Noonkanbah Station
1983	Construction of RAAF Curtin commences	Derby
1983	Camballin Irrigation Scheme abandoned	Camballin	^[22]
1984	Pearl Coast Zoo opened as part of Lord Alistair McAlpine's tourist developments	Broome
1985	Argyle diamond mine opens	Lake Argyle
1987	Three murdered by the "Kimberley Killer" Joseph Schwab	Pentecost River
1988	Construction of RAAF Curtin completed	Derby	^[23]
1990	Premiere of Jimmy Chi's musical Bran Nue Dae	Perth
1993	BHP cease mining Iron ore at Koolan Island	Koolan Island	^[18]
1994	Broome campus of University of Notre Dame Australia opened	Broome
2000	Cyclone Rosita causes severe damage in Broome area	Broome
2002	Curtin Immigration Reception and Processing Centre closed after riots	RAAF Curtin
2003	Miriuwung and Gajerrong native title claim recognised by Federal Court	Kununurra
2003	Purnululu National Park declared a World Heritage Site	Purnululu National Park
2006	Mining and processing commences at Coyote Gold Mine	Coyote Gold Mine
2007	Mount Gibson Iron commence mining Iron ore at Koolan Island	Koolan Island	^[18]
2007	Filming of Baz Luhrmann movie Australia	Kununurra
2008	Filming of Bran Nue Dae musical comedy-drama	Broome, Djarindjin
2008	Documentary film Yajilarra portrays indigenous women's fight against violence in Fitzroy Crossing area	Fitzroy Crossing
2011	Oombulgurri Community closed down after history of violence	Oombulgurri
2014	Mount Gibson Iron suspend mining Iron ore at Koolan Island	Koolan Island	^[18]
2017	Fitzroy Crossing woman June Oscar appointed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner
2019	WA Coroner reports on inquest into 13 aboriginal child deaths by hanging	Perth	^[24]
2020	Argyle diamond mine closes
2022	Cyclone Ellie causes record flooding	Fitzroy River
2022	Multiple injuries in tour boat accident at Horizontal Falls	Horizontal Falls

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Kimberley historical timeline

References

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