Mount Augustus Station 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

cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stati ...

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 ...

. It is situated about south west of Paraburdoo and north west of Meekatharra 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 Upper Lyons River and Frederick River both run through the property, and the lease area once included Mount Augustus, which is claimed to be the largest

monocline A monocline (or, rarely, a monoform) is a step-like fold in rock strata consisting of a zone of steeper dip within an otherwise horizontal or gently dipping sequence. Formation Monoclines may be formed in several different ways (see diagram) ...

in the world. The property shares a border with Cobra Station. The station was established in 1887 by

Samuel James Phillips Samuel James Phillips (8 November 1855 – 21 June 1920) was an Australian pastoralist and politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1890 to 1904, representing the seat of Irwin. Phillips was born in P ...

and John Hughes Phillips. In the early days of settlement the settlers suffered from constant attacks by the

Indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

. In 1892 the station store was attacked and ransacked and a worker at the property was speared. A

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

started in the area in 1893, following reports of a good find. The reports proved to be exaggerated, with gold only to be found in a small area and the field was labeled a "duffer" and the diggers moved elsewhere. In 1895 the station was owned by the Western Australian Mortgage and Agency Company and managed by Chas Mitchell. The property was put up for

auction An auction is usually a process of Trade, buying and selling Good (economics), goods or Service (economics), services by offering them up for Bidding, bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from th ...

in 1898, advertised as comprising of prime fattening country suitable for carrying a herd of 5,000 cattle. The sale included 1,500 head of cattle and 70 horses. The following year J. Phillips and Company owned the property along with

Jimba Jimba Station Jimba Jimba Station, most often referred to as Jimba Jimba, is a pastoral lease currently operating as a cattle station in Western Australia, that once operated as a sheep station. The property is situated near Gascoyne Junction, approximatel ...

. The property was being managed by one of the partners, Phil Ryan. By 1909 the property was reported as having 10,000 head of cattle with the land in good condition following better than average rains. Following the death of one of the partners in the company, Hugh Douglas Phillips, in 1921. The property was put up for auction again in 1923. It was advertised as encompassing an area of one million acres, and was stocked with 4,500 cattle. Stock could be watered by one of the 5 wells or by the Lyons, Frederick or Kurabukka River, which had two permanent pools. In 2012 the owners of the station were the Hammarquist family. The family also operates the Mt Augustus Tourist Park, which offers accommodation, fuel and supplies to visitors. The property has thousands of tourists visit each year.

References

{{Stations of the Gascoyne Western Australia Stations in Gascoyne Shire of Upper Gascoyne 1887 establishments in Australia

See also

References