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Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia
Fitzroy Crossing is a small town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, 400 kilometres (250 mi) east of Broome and 300 kilometres (190 mi) west of Halls Creek. It is approximately 2,524 kilometres (1,568 mi) from the state capital of Perth. It is 114 metres (374 ft) above sea level and is situated on a low rise surrounded by the vast floodplains of the Fitzroy River and its tributary Margaret River.
At the 2016 census, the population of the Fitzroy Crossing town-site was 1,297; with a further 2,000 or so people living in up to 50 Aboriginal communities scattered throughout the Fitzroy Valley. About 80% of the Fitzroy Valley population were Indigenous Australians with a split of closer to 60/40 (indigenous/non-indigenous) in the townsite. Tourism, cattle stations and mining are the main industries in the area.
Fitzroy Crossing and the lands and valleys around it were the home for a number of Aboriginal language groups. When Fitzroy Crossing was established the main group was the Bunuba people, their land stretching from the present day Brooking Springs and Leopold Downs Station to the Oscar, Napier and Wunaamin-Miliwundi Ranges.[citation needed]
Another group in the area stretching on the other side of the Fitzroy River from Gogo, Fossil Downs, and Louisa Downs Station, and on either side of the Margaret River, is the Gooniyandi people. The plains Aboriginal people are the Nyigina and further south are the Walmajarri, the people of the Great Sandy Desert.[citation needed]
Other traditional owners of the area are the Njikena, Konejani, and Waladjari peoples.
One of the first European explorers of the Kimberley area was Alexander Forrest and his party in 1879, following the Fitzroy River to its junction with the Margaret River at Geikie Gorge.[citation needed] The party then travelled east as far as Darwin. Following this exploration, around 1882, the first sheep stations were established around the mouth of the Fitzroy and the next couple of years saw the stations move out west, with Noonkanbah and Quanbun opening up in 1886.[citation needed]
The area was finally settled in 1886 by Dan MacDonald when he set up the Fossil Downs cattle station. This was following a three-year, 5,600-kilometre (3,500 mi) trek from Goulburn, New South Wales. [citation needed]
Fitzroy Crossing received its first bridge in 1935; it was built up into a more substantial structure in 1958. However this bridge could be closed for months during the monsoonal summer. In 1974 a new bridge was built 3 kilometres (2 mi) south of the crossing, which moved the focus of the settlement from its original site.[citation needed] In January 2023, this bridge was heavily damaged and partially collapsed after record floods. It was replaced by a larger, sturdier bridge in December 2023.
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Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia
Fitzroy Crossing is a small town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, 400 kilometres (250 mi) east of Broome and 300 kilometres (190 mi) west of Halls Creek. It is approximately 2,524 kilometres (1,568 mi) from the state capital of Perth. It is 114 metres (374 ft) above sea level and is situated on a low rise surrounded by the vast floodplains of the Fitzroy River and its tributary Margaret River.
At the 2016 census, the population of the Fitzroy Crossing town-site was 1,297; with a further 2,000 or so people living in up to 50 Aboriginal communities scattered throughout the Fitzroy Valley. About 80% of the Fitzroy Valley population were Indigenous Australians with a split of closer to 60/40 (indigenous/non-indigenous) in the townsite. Tourism, cattle stations and mining are the main industries in the area.
Fitzroy Crossing and the lands and valleys around it were the home for a number of Aboriginal language groups. When Fitzroy Crossing was established the main group was the Bunuba people, their land stretching from the present day Brooking Springs and Leopold Downs Station to the Oscar, Napier and Wunaamin-Miliwundi Ranges.[citation needed]
Another group in the area stretching on the other side of the Fitzroy River from Gogo, Fossil Downs, and Louisa Downs Station, and on either side of the Margaret River, is the Gooniyandi people. The plains Aboriginal people are the Nyigina and further south are the Walmajarri, the people of the Great Sandy Desert.[citation needed]
Other traditional owners of the area are the Njikena, Konejani, and Waladjari peoples.
One of the first European explorers of the Kimberley area was Alexander Forrest and his party in 1879, following the Fitzroy River to its junction with the Margaret River at Geikie Gorge.[citation needed] The party then travelled east as far as Darwin. Following this exploration, around 1882, the first sheep stations were established around the mouth of the Fitzroy and the next couple of years saw the stations move out west, with Noonkanbah and Quanbun opening up in 1886.[citation needed]
The area was finally settled in 1886 by Dan MacDonald when he set up the Fossil Downs cattle station. This was following a three-year, 5,600-kilometre (3,500 mi) trek from Goulburn, New South Wales. [citation needed]
Fitzroy Crossing received its first bridge in 1935; it was built up into a more substantial structure in 1958. However this bridge could be closed for months during the monsoonal summer. In 1974 a new bridge was built 3 kilometres (2 mi) south of the crossing, which moved the focus of the settlement from its original site.[citation needed] In January 2023, this bridge was heavily damaged and partially collapsed after record floods. It was replaced by a larger, sturdier bridge in December 2023.