The Calder River is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

region of

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 ...

. The river rises in the Elizabeth and Catherine Range and flows in a southerly direction eventually veering west along the northern edge of the Munja Aboriginal Reserve and discharging into the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

via

Walcott Inlet Walcott Inlet is an estuary located in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. It flows into Collier Bay, in the Indian Ocean, via a narrow gap known as Yule Entrance. The inlet was named on 19 June 1865 by Trevarton Charles Sholl after St ...

. There are five

tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...

to the Calder River: Tims Creek, Red Bull Creek, Bachsten Creek, Neville Creek and Brockman River. Europeans first learned of the river in 1901 when the

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

Frederick Slade Drake-Brockman Frederick Slade Drake-Brockman, also known as Frederick Slade Brockman, (9 July 1857 – 11 September 1917) was a Surveyor General and explorer of Western Australia. Early life Born at Seabrook near Northam in Western Australia, he was the son ...

came across the river while on an expedition in the area close to the river's mouth. Brockman named the river after John Calder, the leader of a

prospecting Prospecting is the first stage of the geological analysis (followed by Mining engineering#Pre-mining, exploration) of a territory. It is the search for minerals, fossils, precious metals, or mineral specimens. It is also known as fossicking. ...

party that was in area at the same time.

References

Rivers of the Kimberley region of Western Australia {{WesternAustralia-river-stub