Yaouk () is a locality in the Snowy Monaro Region,

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 ...

, Australia. It lies in open grassland valleys surrounded by mountains on both sides of the

Murrumbidgee River The Murrumbidgee River () is a major tributary of the Murray River within the Murray–Darling basin and the second longest river in Australia. It flows through the Australian state of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, desce ...

, downstream from and east of the

Tantangara Dam Tantangara Dam is a major ungated concrete gravity dam with concrete chute spillway across the Murrumbidgee River in Tantangara, upstream of Adaminaby in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. The dam is part of the Snowy Mo ...

, north of

Adaminaby Adaminaby is a small town near the Snowy Mountains north-west of Cooma, New South Wales, Cooma, New South Wales, Australia, in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council. The historic town, of 301 people at the , is a trout fishing centre and winter spo ...

, east of the

Kosciuszko National Park The Kosciuszko National Park ( ) is a national park and contains mainland Australia's highest peak, Mount Kosciuszko, for which it is named, and Cabramurra, New South Wales, Cabramurra, the highest town in Australia. Its borders contain a mix o ...

and south of the

Namadgi National Park Namadgi National Park is a protected area in the southwest of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), bordering Kosciuszko National Park in New South Wales. It lies approximately southwest of Canberra, and occupies approximately 46 percent of th ...

in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

, but separated from it by the mountainous

Scabby Range Scabby may refer to: People * William Cragh, Welsh medieval warrior, also known as "William the Scabby". * Cathal Carragh Ua Conchobair, King of Connacht from 1189 to 1202, who was nicknamed "scabby". * Amlaíb Cenncairech, a Norse ruler whose name ...

. It is about 110 km south of

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

and about 75 km northwest of

Cooma Cooma is a town in the south of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south of the national capital, Canberra, via the Monaro Highway. It is also on the Snowy Mountains Highway, connecting Bega, New South Wales, Bega with the Riverina. ...

. At the , it had a population of 25.

History

The Walgalu-speaking ‘Namadgi band’, led by Onyong, held the district before the invasion, as attested in the Janevale blanket list of 1834. Yaouk is named after the Yaouk Run, a " squatter's run" first held by Henry Hall in 1838. Hall appears to have established his cattle run at Yaouk when the impact of the catastrophic 1838-1840 drought first hit NSW. Many of the pastoralists sought new pastures in the Alps at this time. He ran beef cattle at Yaouk and sheep, dairy cattle, and a few angora goats at his original Charnwood station at

Ginninderra Ginninderra is the name of the former agricultural lands surrendered to urban development on the western and north-western fringes of Canberra, the capital of Australia. Ginninderra corresponds with the watershed of Ginninderra Creek, which ...

. James Blake seems to have been the overseer in charge of a group of convicts managing about 600 head of cattle and some horses at Yaouk, before Henry Hall began living in the district himself. Blake was succeeded by William Penniston. Nearby Naas was a well-known refuge site during the Frontier Wars in the district and it was not long until Hall clashed with the Namadgi leader, Onyong, whom he shot in the thigh c. 1839, when he found him spearing cattle. This incident most likely occurred at Hall’s property at Yaouk.

Samuel Shumack Samuel Shumack (1850 - 1940) was an early Canberra pioneer and Australian farmer. He wrote his autobiography in the 1920s and it was published in 1967 as an account of rural living in the Canberra district. Shumack Street in Weetangera is named ...

reported that Hall’s treatment of Aboriginal people was ‘vile’. Shortly before the shooting of Onyong, Commissioner Henry Bingham had disarmed a group of Aboriginal men at Yaouk. A boiling-down works (for

tallow Tallow is a rendered form of beef or mutton suet, primarily made up of triglycerides. In industry, tallow is not strictly defined as beef or mutton suet. In this context, tallow is animal fat that conforms to certain technical criteria, inc ...

production) was established at Yaouk during the 1840s when livestock prices had plummeted. Archibald McKeahnie, whose family held properties close by, tried to purchase the Yaouk run in 1864, but pulled out at the last minute due to financial difficulties. Lachlan Cochrane purchased the property instead. He was renowned for his horsemanship.

Heritage listing

Yaouk has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Sams River Fire Trail:

Scabby Range Nature Reserve Scabby Range Nature Reserve is a heritage-listed protected area at Sams River Fire Trail, Yaouk, New South Wales, Yaouk, New South Wales, Australia. It was established on 3 December 1982 and added to the former Australian Register of the Nati ...

References

Snowy Monaro Regional Council Localities in New South Wales Yaouk, New South Wales {{NewSouthWales-geo-stub