Baulie (c.1835 – 7 March 1860), also known as Bally, Boney or Bahlee, was an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

resistance fighter best known for being a leader in the 1857

Hornet Bank massacre The Hornet Bank massacre was the killing of eleven British settlers, which included eight members of the Fraser family, by a group of mostly Yiman people, Yiman Indigenous Australians. The massacre occurred at about one or two o'clock in the mor ...

of British settlers near

Taroom Taroom is a town in the Shire of Banana and suburbs and localities (Australia), locality split between the Shire of Banana and the Western Downs Region in Queensland, Australia. In the , Taroom had a population of 885 people. Geography The t ...

in what is now rural

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Early contact with British colonists

Around the late 1840s or possibly the early 1850s, Baulie became associated with the British colonist Andrew Scott. Scott used Baulie as a labourer and stockman on his pastoral properties in northern

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and the

Darling Downs The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generally ...

. It is unclear if Baulie was from one of these areas or the other, but it is probable that when he started working for Scott he was an adolescent.

Relocation to Hornet Bank

In 1853, Scott was looking to take up more land in the uncolonised regions north of the Darling Downs. With Baulie and several other of his men, he formed the Hornet Bank pastoral run in the upper Dawson River region of what is now Queensland. He forced the Indigenous

Yiman people The Yiman, also known as Yeeman, Eoman or Jiman, and by themselves in modern times as Iman, are an Aboriginal Australian people living in the Dawson River (Queensland), Upper Dawson River region around Taroom, Queensland, Taroom of eastern Centra ...

out from this area and established a homestead on one of their favourite camping sites near a lagoon. In 1854, Scott leased the property to the Fraser family. Baulie assisted Scott and the Frasers at Hornet Bank, by this stage having learnt to communicate in English quite proficiently. He also managed over time to establish his own amicable contacts with the Yiman, who had mostly been forced into taking refuge in the nearby rugged

Expedition Range Expedition Range is a mountain range within the Central Highlands sandstone region of Queensland, Australia. Robinson Creek cuts a 100 metres deep gorge through sandstone clifflines. Many spectacular side gorges add to the appeal of the area, ...

to escape being shot by the colonists and their

Native Police Australian native police were specialised mounted military units consisting of detachments of Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal troopers under the command of European officers appointed by British colonial governments. The units existed in va ...

Hornet Bank massacre

From 1854 to 1857, the Frasers of Hornet Bank became well known for mistreating Aboriginal people. Local Aboriginal men were shot either by the colonists or by the Native Police who were often temporarily camped at Hornet Bank. William, David and John Fraser, who were young men at this time, would regularly abduct and rape Yiman women. They would also shoot the Yiman's dogs and reportedly gave the Yiman people pudding laced with

strychnine Strychnine (, , American English, US chiefly ) is a highly toxicity, toxic, colorless, bitter, crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine, when inhaled, swallowed, ...

for Christmas in 1856 which resulted in many deaths. As a result of years of this mistreatment, a revenge attack was planned by the Yiman upon the Frasers of Hornet Bank. Baulie appears also to have become angered by the actions of the Frasers and covertly worked with the Yiman to organise the attack. He had insider knowledge of Hornet Bank and was trusted by the Frasers, and therefore became a crucial part of the resistance operation. In the early hours of 27 October 1857, approximately 100 Yiman assembled in the darkness around the homestead of Hornet Bank. Amongst them was another resistance leader named

Beilba Beilba (c.1825 – March 1866), sometimes referred to as Beilbah or Bielbah, was an Indigenous Australian resistance fighter from the Expedition Range area of what is now known as Queensland. He became famous for being a leader in the Hornet Bank ...

and at least two former Native Police troopers who had joined the Yiman. Baulie prepared the way for the

by gathering the property's dogs and killing them before they could alert the Frasers. Soon after, Baulie led the Yiman in raiding the homestead. They killed eight members of the Fraser family (raping three of the females beforehand), the family's tutor and two stockmen. They plundered the property and took around 100 sheep before making off just before dawn.

Reprisals

In the days and months following the Hornet Bank massacre, many

punitive expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong beha ...

s were organised by the colonists to inflict collective punishment on any Aboriginal people they found in the region.

raids and attacks by armed settlers killed hundreds of Aborigines. Baulie managed to escape these and hid out for several years in the remote recesses of the Expedition Range with other warriors including Beilba.

Battle with Native Police and death

In March 1860, Baulie with his contingent of warriors came down from the ranges and camped out near to the pastoral property of Bendemeer near

Yuleba Yuleba ( ) is a rural town and Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Maranoa Region, in the south-west of Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Yuleba had a population of 271 people. Geography Yuleba is located east of ...

. They were quickly reported by the local colonists to the Native Police. A detachment of troopers under Second Lieutenant Frederick Carr were mobilised to Bendemeer where they engaged in an hour long battle with Baulie and his warriors. The Aboriginal men, fighting only with spears and

nulla-nulla A waddy, nulla-nulla, leangle or boondi is an Aboriginal Australian hardwood club or hunting stick for use as a weapon or as a throwing stick for hunting animals. ''Waddy'' comes from the Darug people of Port Jackson, Sydney.Peters, Pam, ''Th ...

s, managed to wound Carr and several of his troopers. Carr heard Baulie during the battle encouraging his warriors to keep up the fight as the troopers were running out of cartridges. However, the Native Police were victorious in the end, leaving 15 Aboriginal warriors, including Baulie, dead.

References