Boologooroo Station, commonly referred to as Boologooroo, is a
pastoral lease
A pastoral lease, sometimes called a pastoral run, is an arrangement used in both Australia and New Zealand where government-owned Crown land is leased out to Pastoral farming, graziers for the purpose of livestock grazing on rangelands.
Austral ...
that operates as a
sheep station
A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...
in
Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
.
Description
It is situated about north east of
Carnarvon and south of
Coral Bay in the
Gascoyne
The Gascoyne region is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northwest of Western Australia, and consists of the local government areas of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay and Upper Gascoyne. The Gascoyne has about of ...
region. The station is bordered to the south by
Boolathana Station, to the north by
Minilya Station and to the east by Cooralya Station.
Lake MacLeod
Lake Macleod is a marine salt lake in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia, north of the port and regional centre of .
History
Dirk Hartog, a Dutchman, made the first authenticated landing by a European along this coastline in 1616. Ea ...
forms the western boundary of the station.
[
The property occupies an area of , of which is described as being in good or fair condition. It has a carrying capacity of 10,500 sheep. The country is mostly alluvial plains with duplex soils and many sandy rises. The vegetation is mixed shrubland of currant bush, many ]acacia
''Acacia'', commonly known as wattles or acacias, is a genus of about of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa, South America, and Austral ...
s and some Gascoyne bluebush. The western portion of the station is made up of flat, saline alluvial plains that support salt bush, blue bush and taller acacia species.
History
Boologoroo was established in 1894 by Robert Campbell. Campbell had previously taken up Beringarra Station in 1881 before acquiring Boologooroo.[ and Harry took full ownership of Boologooroo.
A thunderstorm struck the station in 1911, and the ]windmill
A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery.
Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern period ...
near the homestead was destroyed by the winds. of rain fell in just over an hour and the temperature dropped from to in forty minutes. In 1923 the area was struck by a cyclone
In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...
, with Boologooroo receiving over a few days.
The area of the property in 1924 was and it had a flock of 23,000 sheep in 1925.
The body of Jack Smith was found in the woolshed in an advanced state of decomposition in 1932. Smith had enquired about work of the station but then committed suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death.
Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...
in the shed.
See also
* List of pastoral leases in Western Australia
Pastoral leases in Western Australia are increasingly known as "stations", and more particular – as either sheep stations or cattle stations. They are usually found in country that is designated as rangeland. In 2013 there were a total of 527 p ...
References
{{Stations of the Gascoyne Western Australia
Shire of Carnarvon
Stations in Gascoyne
1894 establishments in Australia