Marree was originally known as Hergott Springs when the town was surveyed in 1883, named after the German botanist, Joseph Herrgott, who accompanied explorer John McDouall Stuart to the area.
Later, the name was changed by an Act of Parliament during World War I, as it was too German-sounding. Interestingly, anthropologist, Norman B. Tindale, wrote in 1955 that the Dieri people called the area Marina or Mari, meaning “place of opossums”, according to the Lutheran Rev Reuther.
The Dieri Aboriginal People
Marree is the home of the Dieri Aboriginal people, who inherit their Dieri identity from their mother and their hunting country from their father.
The traditional creation stories of the Dieri tell of humans and other animals being created by the moon, at the bidding of the ancestral spirit, Mooramoora.
Deiri people participated in many ceremonies and believed in charms, curses and magic. Their medicine man was called the Koonkie.
Deiri people participated in many ceremonies and believed in charms, curses and magic. Their medicine man was called the Koonkie.
When a member of the clan died, long sticks were buried in the ground to represent the deceased person and cannibalism was practised, so as to "never forget" them. (Cannibalism—the Ultimate Taboo—Is Surprisingly Common)
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| S.W. from Maree, where an interesting discovery was made in the form of a large number of Aboriginal carvings. The Australian Museum Magazine, 1921 |
If a man accidentally killed another in a fight, the murderer's elder brother would be killed. If the man didn't have an elder brother, then his father would be killed instead. If he had no male older relatives, the murderer was sentenced to death himself. He did not know when he will be killed, and he could not defend himself. (More information)
When an ancestral man (muramura ) did not share food with his two young sons they sent him to climb a tree full of edible grubs, then caused the tree to grow taller. Setting fire to the tree, the boys threw the moon man a skin to protect himself from the heat. Now the moon shows dark spots where the skin covered him. (Howitt 1902, 406-407; Howitt 1904, 428.)
Five dogs chased an emu from waterholes. The emu travelled underground, came up, re-entered the ground and made red ochre deposits. (Elkin 1934)
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| A Dieri Rainmaker throws water from his wooden dish from the left and right, SA |
Lutheran missionaries, in this way, bypassed theological hierarchy by studying and using local vernaculars, to preach the Gospel.
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| Bags and tools used by Aboriginal women in food collection, South Australian Museum |
Hergott Springs
1800s
The explorer Edward John Eyre passed through the Marree area in 1840, and John McDouall Stuart visited in 1859.
Marree was originally known as Hergott Springs when the town was surveyed in 1883. It was named after the German botanist who accompanied John McDouall Stuart, as he found a series of waterholes in the area.
The explorer Edward John Eyre passed through the Marree area in 1840, and John McDouall Stuart visited in 1859.
Marree was originally known as Hergott Springs when the town was surveyed in 1883. It was named after the German botanist who accompanied John McDouall Stuart, as he found a series of waterholes in the area.
Hergott Springs was established as a staging post for camel trains, used to transport freight into the outback. The so-called "Afghan" cameleers or "Ghans" (actually Afghani, Pakistani and Turkish) were the camel handlers who transported food and other goods and equipment to and from isolated stations, mines and government camps. These were the first Muslims to settle permanently in Australia.
In 1883, when the town was surveyed, the Marree Hotel was described as "a substantial stone two-storey building, eighty-three feet by forty-six feet in area. The bar room nineteen feet by twenty- two feet, larger than the dining room of seventeen feet”.
By 1885, as well as the hotel, there were two general stores, two butchers, three saddlers and a Wesleyan Methodist church.
Date Palm Plantations
1900s
A government school was built in 1908.
The Marree hospital opened in 1912.
As the Ghan express wound its way through some of the most remote regions of Australia, guests onboard would be served three-course meals by the tuxedo-clad wait staff. Afterwards, they could relax in the "Lounge Car".
1920s
Construction of the Central Australia Railway began in 1878 at Port Augusta. The line reached Hawker in June 1880, Beltana in July 1881, Marree in January 1884 and Oodnadatta in January 1891. Work on the extension to Alice Springs began in 1926, and was completed in 1929. Until then, the final leg of the train journey was still made by camel.
1930s
Tom Kruse conducted a mail service by truck to Birdsville from 1936 until 1963.
Mr. and Mrs. Harry Russell, of
Marree, have been notified that
their only son, Dvr. James Russell,
has been reported missing in Ma-
laya. Dvr. Russell enlisted in Feb-
ruary, 1940, and spent several
months in Alice Springs before
leaving for overseas in February,
1941.
The Back of Beyond (1954) is an award-winning Australian documentary film made along the Birdsville Track from Marree,
Another rail line was built with a more direct route to Port Augusta and the last train left Marree Station in November 1981.
The Marree Man Mystery
Nobody knows for sure who created the Marree Man, or Stuart's Giant, a geoglyph (a large design cut into the earth), of a tall figure measuring 4.2km (2.5 miles), of an Aboriginal Australian man hunting with a boomerang or stick, etched into the red earth of the region.
It has puzzled investigators that creating the figure on such a scale would have been very difficult without GPS technology. And GPS was mostly only available for military uses at this time. Also, as the figure was etched 20–30 cm into the earth and up to 35 metres in width, it is believed that a bulldozer would have been required, and a significant amount of time and petrol.
In 1999, a London hotel received a fax that claimed that a plaque was buried 5 metres south of the nose of the Marree Man. And that this plaque should be dug up by a "prominent US media figure".
The Ghan was privatised in 1997.
Things To See in Marree
Things To Do and Places To Go
Top 10 Aboriginal Landmarks in South Australia
The Tom Kruse Room Museum
Oodnadatta Track Guide
Spirits of the Ghan, by Judy Nunn.
Gould's Book Of Fish, by Richard Flanagan.
Wake in Fright, by Kenneth Cook.
Australia's first mosque, completed about 1882, was built by camel breeder Abdul Kadir, owner of Wangamanna Station. Cameleer, Mullah Assim Khan, became the imam.
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| The Mosque at Hergott Springs. The pool in the foreground was used by worshippers for washing their feet before entering the Mosque, State Library of South Australia |
Between 1870 and 1920, British businessmen brought about 2000 to 4000 cameleers and 20,000 camels to Australia, to transport goods to isolated settlements in the outback.
The Police Station and Post Office opened in 1883 and a school in the following year.
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| The first Telegraph Station at Hergott Springs ( now Marree), opened June 1884. The Postmaster James Arthur O'Brien is the man at left and was Postmaster from 1884 until 1901.The repeater station was in the pictured tent. SLSA (1884) |
The Railway Arrives
The Ghan Railway, short for “The Afghan Express”, reached Marree in 1884, running between Port Augusta and Alice Springs.
The Ghan Railway, short for “The Afghan Express”, reached Marree in 1884, running between Port Augusta and Alice Springs.
The name of the railway came about in an interesting way. When a sleeping car was added after 1923 and the train travelled through the night, running from Terowie to Oodnadatta, a crowd of people at Quorn Station were watching this new train arrive, with its sleeping car.
Observing a single Afghan man disembark and kneel down to perform his prayers, a railway worker jokingly remarked that the train should be called the Afghan Express. The name caught on. (see here)
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Camel train at Hergott Springs (Marree) setting out with supplies and mail for outback stations. German botanist Joseph Albert Herrgott travelling with John McDouall Stuart discovered the seven artesian springs in 1859, SLSA (1886) |
There were two sides of the town in Marree. On the western side of the town you would find the camels and the cameleers. And in the opposite direction, a two-storey hotel with forty rooms, a post office, a school, and various houses.
The Afghan families who lived in Marree mostly resided in an area known as Ghantown on the other side of the railway track. However, Afghan cameleers did not often remain in one place, as their Job required them to travel. Over the years, the cameleers trekked through close to three-quarters of the Australian continent.
Bejah Dervish, was a cameleer on the Calvert Scientific Exploring Expedition in 1896, which mapped parts of inland Western Australia. And, Abdul Jubbar (Jack) Bejah, was with Dr Cecil Madigan, when he made the first European crossing of the Simpson Desert in 1936.
Bejah Dervish, was a cameleer on the Calvert Scientific Exploring Expedition in 1896, which mapped parts of inland Western Australia. And, Abdul Jubbar (Jack) Bejah, was with Dr Cecil Madigan, when he made the first European crossing of the Simpson Desert in 1936.
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| Lawrence Allen Wells in a group with Bejah Dervish and other explorers, circa 1890, State Library of South Australia |
Many Afghan men married Aboriginal women. According to historian Pamela Rajkowski, Aboriginal and Muslim societies had much in common, such as polygamy and wives often being much younger than their husbands. Arranged marriages were also a common cultural custom. Some Afghan men married Anglo-Celtic women, however.
1890s
Experimental Garden at Hergott Springs
In 1894, dates were picked from the palm trees at the experimental plot at Hergott Springs (Marree), which had been established about eight years previously. This was a kind of test garden using the hot artesian bore water of the area.
In 1894, dates were picked from the palm trees at the experimental plot at Hergott Springs (Marree), which had been established about eight years previously. This was a kind of test garden using the hot artesian bore water of the area.
But, ants attacked the dates and destroyed the crop. During the peak period of the experiment (1896-97), some 279 palms were planted at Hergott Springs, with declining amounts each year. Palms died from lack of bore water flow, declining water and soil quality, and were buried by sand storms.
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| Date palms growing at Hergott Springs, two men stand nearby, circa 1896. State Library of South Australia |
Date Palm Plantations
About 30km northeast of Marree on the Birdsville Track, is the former date palm plantation and camel depot of Lake Harry, established in 1897, which now lies in ruins. There is a nearby salt lake of the same name.
The date growing business wasn't successful for various reasons, but the lack of bees and the need for hand fertilisation of the dates was a major cause of failure.
1900s
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| Camel train of the Afghan hawker, Amedulah Khan, circa 1901, Inscription on the back of this 'business card' reads: 'A familiar sight in West Qld. late 1800 and early 1900.' Afghan camel traders serviced the outback with supplies from places like Marree in Western Queensland. State Library of Queensland |
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| PANORAMIC VIEW OF HERGOTT SPRINGS, SA, Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 14 September 1907 |
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| Young Afghan children, Marree, SA, about 1909. "Photograph by Mrs. A.M. Hopewell". |
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| Music at "Afghan Town", Hergott Springs, approximately 1909. The lady in the centre of the photograph is Margaret Jane Hiddle (nee Thomson), wife of Arthur Barwise Hiddle. Arthur Barwise Hiddle, a local storekeeper owned the gramophone, which he used for performances, and would raise money for various charities and causes. State Libray of South Australia |
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| Hospital, Marree, SA, circa 1909. "Photograph by Mrs. A.M. Hopewell". State Library of South Australia |
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| School children and teachers assembled for the School picnic, Marree, SA, about 1909. "Photograph by Mrs. A.M. Hopewell". State Library of South Australia |
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| Railway station, Hergott Springs, About 1910, State Library of South Australia |
Heyday
Marree was on the cattle route from Queensland and thousands of cattle would come through here. In Marree's heyday, from 1900 to 1910, when a mining boom occurred in the region, there were three stores, a butcher, baker and a blacksmith.
Marree was a railway station where two different gauges would meet, called a “break of gauge” location, requiring a sizeable workforce and rail depot.
Wool and livestock were also produced in the region, and Marree became an important service centre for these industries.
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| PICNIC AT HERGOTT SPRINGS, SA, (Marree), Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 2 September 1911 |
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| Six men dressed in suits outside C.Dooley's wine & spirits shop at Hergott Springs, South Australia, July 1914 / Alexander Lorimer Kennedy, National Library of Australia |
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| 1. Opening the new Public Hall, HergottSprings. 2. Cattle in the yards at Hergottprior to being trucked to Adelaide. 3. Off for a ride. 4. Lake Letty, a watorholie, l2 miles from Horgott. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 23 May 1914 |
WWI
The town's name was changed by an Act of Parliament during World War I, as it was too German-sounding.
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| WELL DONE, HERGOTT SPRINGS! patriotic motor car demonstrations held recently at Hergott Springs. Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 24 July 1915 |
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| LATE PTE. F. W. RILEY. HERGOTT SPRINGS, September 23.—Notification was received from the militaryauthorities by Mrs. Charles Riley, of Hergott Springs on Thursday, that her son, Pte. F. W. Riley, had been killed in action in France on August 22.Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 7 October 1916 |
1920s
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| Two camels pulling a buggy cart at Marree, South Australia, circa 1923 |
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| Scenes near Marree, SA, I. Artesian bore at Marree. 2. An Aboriginal camp. 3. Buggy and pair. 4. Cattle waiting to be trucked. A camel calf in the foreground. 5. A Camel team,Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 4 July 1925 |
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| Marree to Birdsville coach, 400-mile trip. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 3 July 1926 |
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| Rain at Marree, SA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 24 December 1927 |
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| Members of the tourist party at the Marree Railway Station, circa 1927. State Library of South Australia |
The Marree Hotel, once known as The Great Northern Hotel, built by Charlie Chapple, was where stockmen and drovers had a drink and rest after a long journey or took a break from the never-ending work and heat.
The story goes that when the hotel first opened, a whole trainload of beer was sent there, but it only lasted one week. Business dropped off for the hotel when the Cordillo Downs Station, which once had 85,000 sheep, closed down.
1930s
The coming of the railway replaced the need for the cameleers. Many of the camels were set free and turned feral. In the 1930s, more than 150 camels were shot on one day in an attempt to control the problem.
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| Itinerant dentist in South Australia, at Marree Hotel, formerly called the Great Northern Hotel, circa 1930 |
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| Register News-Pictorial (Adelaide, SA : 1929 - 1931), Friday 10 October 1930 |
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| BUSH NURSING Hospital at Marree MATRON IN ADELAIDE Mrs. E. Adams (Matron of Marree Hospital), News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954), Friday 22 August 1930 |
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| DAVID ROYLE and his family who travelled by donkey team from Marree (S.A.) to Melbourne. During the long trip the team of a dozen donkeys averaged 21 miles an hour.Call News-Pictorial (Perth, WA : 1927 - 1931), Thursday 2 July 1931 |
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| DONKEY DAVE and his family at Bendigo after a long trek from Marree, South Australia. The family are travelling to Beech Forest (Vic.) seeking work, Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931 - 1954), Thursday 25 June 1931 |
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| Aboriginal man near lake Eyre, SA, making fire, Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), Saturday 28 March 1931 ( Lake Eyre (now Kati Thanda) is about 90 kms from Marree) |
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| Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), Sunday 14 August 1932 |
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| News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954), Thursday 28 September 1933 |
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| Aboriginal boy and fully loaded camel train at Marree, SA, Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), Saturday 8 December 1934 |
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| Marree South Australia. Near Lake Eyre. At the start of the Birdsville Track. The Post Office in 1935. State Library photo. |
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| Marree CWA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 4 August 1938 |
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| BLACK TRACKER LOOKS AT LIFE. Jimmy James joined the police at Marree as a black tracker, and later came to Adelaide. Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), Saturday 16 July 1938 |
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MR. TOM KRUSE with the Marree-Birdsville mail truck on Coroowillunie sandhill.News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954), Saturday 4 March 1939 |
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| THE GREAT NORTHERN HOTEL at Marree, SA, News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954), Wednesday 1 March 1939 |
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ABORIGINAL MISSION. One of the latest missions opened to educate Aboriginal children is the United Aborigines' School, Finniss Springs Station. It is situated about 50 miles, north-west of Marree, This picture shows a class being held in a tent. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 14 December 1939 |
1940s and WWII
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| RED CROSS AT MARREE. Cutting the cake at the second anniversary of the Red Cross unit at Marree, which has raised £111 in cash and sent away 90 garments. From left: Miss Phyl Russell, Mrs. W. McKenzie, Mrs. J. Martin, Miss H. Russell, Mrs. A. Collins, Miss G. Scobie, Mrs. M. Ridgeway. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 13 November 1941 |
Marree, have been notified that
their only son, Dvr. James Russell,
has been reported missing in Ma-
laya. Dvr. Russell enlisted in Feb-
ruary, 1940, and spent several
months in Alice Springs before
leaving for overseas in February,
1941.
Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), Friday 3 July 1942
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The District amd Bush Nursing Society Hospital at Marree on the left :md the police station on the righi. Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 10 November 1949 |
1950s
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| Vicki and Mark Godson, four-year-old twins, on a slippery dip at the Marree children's playground. The local Country Women's Association branch provided latest playground equipment, and residents installed it.News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954), Monday 4 June 1951 |
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| "The Back Ot Beyond." The director, John Heyer explains the action of the film to famous Central Australian Afghan guide, Bejah Deversh. Brisbane Telegraph (Qld. : 1948 - 1954), Monday 7 June 1954 |
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| Mintulee of Thurrabarree ( (Joe the Rainmaker) The Rainmaker explains the use of an old rain stone to Mrs John Heyer. Brisbane Telegraph (Qld. : 1948 - 1954), Monday 7 June 1954. Read about Aboriginal rain-magic here (p.249) |
Change and Decline
From the 1860s to 1930s, the cameleers with their camels had carted stores to outback pastoral and mining settlements, returning carrying wool or ores.
From the 1860s to 1930s, the cameleers with their camels had carted stores to outback pastoral and mining settlements, returning carrying wool or ores.
Cameleers had also been used by police in South Australia from 1881, until the 1950s, and in the construction of the Overland Telegraph line.
Another rail line was built with a more direct route to Port Augusta and the last train left Marree Station in November 1981.
The Marree Man Mystery
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| Marree Man from the air, circa 1998, Peter Campbell |
The figure actually, lies 60 km (37 mi) west of the township of Marree, just outside the Woomera Prohibited Area (military testing range) and was first spotted in 1998 by Trec Smith, a charter pilot.
During that same year, anonymous press releases, using American spelling, were sent to media and local businesses, about the figure, using terms not used by Australians, such as referring to Aborigines "from the local Indigenous Territories".
Investigation of the site revealed a shallow pit containing a satellite photo of the figure and a jar containing a tiny US flag. A note also referred to the Branch Davidian cult that was led by David Koresh, of the Waco siege of 1993, who convinced his followers that he was the “Lamb of God”.
Investigation of the site revealed a shallow pit containing a satellite photo of the figure and a jar containing a tiny US flag. A note also referred to the Branch Davidian cult that was led by David Koresh, of the Waco siege of 1993, who convinced his followers that he was the “Lamb of God”.
It has puzzled investigators that creating the figure on such a scale would have been very difficult without GPS technology. And GPS was mostly only available for military uses at this time. Also, as the figure was etched 20–30 cm into the earth and up to 35 metres in width, it is believed that a bulldozer would have been required, and a significant amount of time and petrol.
In 1999, a London hotel received a fax that claimed that a plaque was buried 5 metres south of the nose of the Marree Man. And that this plaque should be dug up by a "prominent US media figure".
A plaque was found showing the American flag and the Olympic rings. Strangely, there was also a quote from the H.H. Finlayson book, "The Red Centre", about Aboriginal people of the Pitjantjatjara tribe hunting wallabies with a throwing stick. The quote reads:
"In honour of the land they once knew. His attainments in these pursuits are extraordinary; a constant source of wonderment and admiration."
Some have said that the Australian Space Research Institute at Woomera created the geoglyph as they had the technology available at this time.
"In honour of the land they once knew. His attainments in these pursuits are extraordinary; a constant source of wonderment and admiration."
Some have said that the Australian Space Research Institute at Woomera created the geoglyph as they had the technology available at this time.
However, Alice Springs artist Bardius Goldberg, who died in 2002, is said to have confided in another person that he created the Marree Man. And although Dick Smith has offered a $5,000 reward for information that would solve the mystery, we still don't know who did it, though there are plenty of theories.
And even if you can't see too much of the Marree Man from the ground, other artists have created artworks to see along the way.
Marree is still an important service centre for the large sheep and cattle stations and an interesting place for a stopover as you travel along the Birdsville or Oodnadatta Tracks, into the outback.
Along The Road
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| Artwork outside Marree, Marree on the Oonadatta Track, Mutonia Sculpture Park, Alberrie Creek |
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| "Plane Henge", two Cessnas touching wingtip to wingtip, Mutonia Sculpture Park, Alberrie Creek |
Things To See in Marree
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| Remains of the Old Ghan train, Marree, SA |
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| The earliest known mosque in Australia, built in Marree, South Australia, about the 1860s |
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| The old Marree Railway Station, change of gauge for the old Ghan train, Marree, South Australia |
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| The old Marree Railway Station, Marree South Australia |
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| The Marree Hotel, Marree, SA,l built in 1883 |
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| View of Marree from the Marree Hotel, South Australia |
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| The old Marree Railway Station and Esmond Gerald "Tom" Kruse's abandoned truck, Marree, SA. Kruse delivered mail and supplies along the track between Marree and Birdsville |
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| Artefacts from the old days of the railways at Marree, SA |
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The Marree Cemetery is divided into three cultural groupings: European, Afghan and Aboriginal. This Afghan grave is the only one with a monument as other burials are marked with two wooden posts
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| Emu with chicks walks through the railway yards at Marree, South Australia, Peterdownunder |
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| Remains of fettlers' accomodation, near Marree, SA |
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| Historical information at Marree Railyards, Brett |
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| Ruins of Lake Harry Palm Plantation, South Australia |
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| Marree, SA. Old Ghan train station in Marree, also where the Oodnadatta Track begins |
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| Marree Cemetery, SA |
Things To Do and Places To Go
Top 10 Aboriginal Landmarks in South Australia
The Tom Kruse Room Museum
Books To Read