Historical Australian Towns: Beltana, SA: Historic Copper Mining Town

Located 540 kilometres (336 miles) north of Adelaide, in South Australia, the town of Beltana was occupied by the Kuyani and Adnyamathanha Aboriginal people.

John Haines' Beltana run was later in the vicinity and probably named after the Aboriginal word for running waters.

Later, copper mining, the Australian Overland Telegraph Line and The Ghan railway were important to the area's development.

The Kuyani and Adnyamathanha People

The Kuyani and Adnyamathanha people camped around the Beltana area before the arrival of Europeans. These groups are also connected by kinship, trade and ceremonial connections. Research also shows that Adnyamathanha, Kuyani and Barngarla langauges (Thura-Yura languages ), were mutually intelligible, at least near their margins (see more)

An oral story belonging to the Kuyani, and other clans, relates two Mura-mura youths, coming from the north and travelling through the land and introducing the use of the stone knife for circumcision.

"The Yuri-ulu travelled, coming from, the north, through all the land, bringing in the use of the Tula (stone tool) in circumcision. Thus they came to the Beltana country, at a time when a youth was about to be made into a man. When the men were going to burn him with fire, the Yuri-ulu went into the earth, the one on his right and the other on his left, waiting for the moment when they could help him. When a man approached with a red-hot fire-stick to perform the operation, the two Yuri-ulu rose out of the earth, and instantly cutting off the foreskin with their Tula, sank back into the ground invisibly. The men who were present were astonished at the fresh wound, and saw that the boy had been circumcised. They questioned each other as to who had done it, but no one could say. The feeling was such, that they began to say to each other, "Didst thou do this? or thou? or who?" and to grasp their weapons, when he who was about to have done the operation said that he would find out the cause. Seating himself on the ground, and striking it with a club, he sang continuously that he who had circumcised the boy should come forth. Then the Yuri-ulu rose out of the earth biting their long beards, and each holding a Tula in his hand before him."

Then, properly painted and adorned, they danced, and having given the Tula to the men, whom they admonished as if they had been youths, they disappeared, followed by the praises of the assembled men.After showing themselves in many places as life-givers, they turned back, and at Katitandra,one went west, and the other went east and northwards, bringing the Tula to every tribe.

Thus they still wander, showing themselves at times as living, and as life-givers. Read more

Collection of Aboriginal tools and weapons at Stansbury Museum. The display includes traditional wooden items such as boomerangs, coolamons and woomeras, as well as carved wooden animals typically seen in the bush - emu, kangaroo, goanna and snake. Some of the items have wood burnt designs on them, South Australian History Network

According to Samuel T Gason, who joined the South Australian Police force in 1864 and who wrote a book in 1873, about the local Aboriginal people, their customs and language; another custom called Wilyaru (Willyaroo), was also practised commonly by those speaking Thura-Yura languages.

"....first of all, blood is poured over the novice from the arms of older men, after which he is laid on the ground and cut on the neck and shoulders with a flint, whereby scars are raised showing that he has passed through the ceremony. After the latter is over he is given “a piece of wood about nine inches long, by two and a half wide, and about a sixteenth of an inch thick, with a hole at one end.” After the latter is over he is given “a piece of wood about nine inches long, by two and a half wide, and about a sixteenth of an inch thick, with a hole at one end.”

An Aboriginal group, ca. 1868 [picture] / Courret Hermanos succesores de Maunoury Corresponsel de la Casa, Nadar de Paris, Purchased at Lawson Menzies Auction, 2005.Libraries Australia

Aboriginal Australian wearing traditional paint for a Corroboree, circa 1859, In collection: (Album compiled by Sir Henry Barkly)

Aboriginal woman and infant of South Australia, circa 1871, SLSA

Canoe Tree

A canoe tree, also called scarred tree or scar tree and shield tree, is a tree which has had bark removed by Aboriginal Australians for making bark canoes, shelters, weapons such as shields, tools, traps, containers (such as coolamons) or other artefacts.

"Canoe treee at Currency Creek, The mark is plainly visible on the trunk where the Aborigines cut out their Bark Canoe, possibly over 100 years ago." Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), Saturday 16 September 1911

1840s

The first explorers in the Beltana area were Edward John Eyre in 1840 and Charles Sturt in 1845. Eyre and Sturt were not too impressed with the region, however.

A carte-de-visite portrait of Edward John Eyre, circa 1860

On his trek into the region, Eyre described Lake Torrens as a "desolate and forbidding shore". And from the heights of Mt. Deception (19km to the west), Eyre looked to the north to see "a cheerless-looking waste". Eyre named the rise Mount Deception, as he found that it was deceptive in seeming to promise freshwater supplies.

Beltana Run

John Haines established Beltana run on the land around Warioota Creek by 1855. The land was also surveyed by John McDouall Stuart in 1855.

Robert Barr Smith acquired the property with its 17,705 sheep in 1862. By 1867 Thomas Elder amalgamated the property with Samuel Stuckey's property to form Beltana station.

Robert Barr Smith (4 February 1824 – 20 November 1915) was an Australian businessman and philanthropist in Adelaide, South Australia. He was a partner in Elder Smith and Company from 1863 (now now Elders Limited).

In 1866, Elder and Stuckey imported about 123 camels and Afghan drivers to begin breeding camels and to transport equipment to and from the copper mines in the Flinders Ranges and ore to Port Augusta.

A group of five Afghan camel drivers thought to be at Beltana, SA. Approximately 1897

Beltana Station buildings, SA, Approximately 1897

1850s: Finding Gold

John Bull, a former gold miner, who was working as a stockman for the Chamber brothers, made the first discovery in 1857 of copper in the Northern Flinders, along the Warrioota Creek near Beltana Station. The Oratunga mine, located on the southern boundary of Moolooloo station, was the first of the copper discoveries. Other discoveries followed, including, Blinman, Daly and Mount McKinlay.

James Chambers and his friend William Finke worked the mine for a short time and founded the "Great Northern Copper Mining Company". The floating of the Great Northern Mining Company on the London Stock Exchange in 1860 was notable for irregularities, shady deals, deception and outright fraud. The dubious contents of a prospectus of this company sparked a government inquiry.

Signs of silver in the Northern Flinders Ranges were also, found in 1869 near Beltana.

1870s: First Building

When copper was discovered at Sliding Rock in 1870, sparking an influx of miners coming into the region, the first house was built at Beltana– of pug and pine –located where the road branched off to the mines at Sliding Rock.

Martin's Eating House was an "eating house" and general store, which was built about 1871, before the town was surveyed in 1873.

Eating house at Beltana, SA, Photograph 1930

The original house was built of vertical pine logs, plugged with mud and white-washed. But it was replaced with a stone building, built in front of the old building about 1874, when it became a licensed hotel, built on the road to the mine at Warioota Creek. The location at the creek crossing was also the site selected for a repeater station for the Overland Telegraph, which reached Beltana by 1871.

The Beltana township was surveyed in 1873 and the repeater station was built by 1875.

Overland Telegraph Construction party - Charles Todd third from left c 1872, SLSA

The Ernest Giles Expedition

Ernest Giles, the Australian explorer who led five major expeditions to parts of South Australia and Western Australia, reached Elder's station at Beltana in 1875 on his third expedition.

Whilst at Beltana, Giles made preparations for his fourth journey. With a caravan of camels, managed by Afghan cameleer Mahomet Saleh, Giles set off and reached Port Augusta on 23 May.

Ernest Giles' expedition party for his fourth expedition, which started in May 1875. Standing, from left to right: Peter Nicholls, Alex Ross, Saleh. Seated: Jess Young, Ernest Giles, W. H. Tietkens. Sitting on ground: Tommy Oldham.

The population grew at Beltana after the the nearby Sliding Rock copper mine failed due to being inundated by underground water in 1877.

Telephone

In 1878 a telephone call was transmitted between Beltana Telegraph Station and Strangeway Springs.

A mounted policeman was appointed at Beltana in 1879, assisted by an Aboriginal tracker.

1880s: Railway Arrives

The Great Northern Railway Line to Beltana opened in 1881, with a station building constructed with stone. To the north of the station, another stone building was used by the staff. The train service from Beltana to Port Augusta ran three times a week. The journey took about 12 hours.

By the 1940s, 64 trains per week were passing through Beltana along the Marree-Oodnadatta-Alice Springs rail-line.

Photograph of a steam train at Beltana, identified as a 'narrow guage locomotive', with three men standing on the train, Approximately 1897, SLSA

Distant view of the railway station at Beltana, South Australia, circa 1889, SLSA

A Mrs. R. Lewis who was a Beltana Staition said:
"......when the train first steamed into Beltana. The country is
hilly, and the blacks climbed to a hill
top and crouched down with fear at
the sight of the great black engine (or
"black moora").
In those days blackfellows came from
Central Australia, almost at Parachilna,
for red ochre. It was not uncommon
to see 200 natives on the trade route, at
a time, and the tribes from far off
were sometimes hostile."

Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), Saturday 13 June 1925

The Royal Victoria Hotel

The Royal Victoria Hotel, Beltana, existed from 1879 to 1887 and then again from 1891 to 1957. At the time of this photograph, the proprietor was Mrs Mary Harvey, who may be one of the women at front of the Hotel. The hotel was built on land which was purchased in 1878.

Photograph of a stone building with men and women standing by the verandah, identified as the 'Royal Victoria Hotel, Beltana. 1897-98'. Approximately 1897, SLSAPhotograph of a stone building with men and women standing by the verandah, identified as the 'Royal Victoria Hotel, Beltana. 1897-98'. Approximately 1897, SLSA

Photograph of a stone building with a man, woman and two children at the front gate. Identified as the 'Police St. Beltana. 1897-98'. SLSA

In 1880s Beltana had its own brewery, general store and a school. The population settled at about 150 and stayed around this level for some years.

1890s

Photograph of two women, assumed to be Agnes Mitchell and Emma Strapps, sitting on a camel with an open landscape behind. Caption reads 'At Beltana'. Approximately 1897, SLSA

James Heneker and Mary-Ann Heneker (nee Spencer) standing outside a cottage in Beltana. Approximately 1897, SLSA

Photograph of a stone building with a sign reading 'T.M.Buttfield Beltana Cash Store' at the top. Approximately 1897, SLSA

Post office at Beltana, SA, in 1897

With a Mission

In the 1890s the Presbyterians established a mission at Beltana. The Rev. Robert Mitchell rented a cottage at Beltana from 1894. He toured remote communities accompanied by his daughter Agnes.

The Reverend and his daughter visited shearers and station hands, miners, railway workers, Afghans and Aboriginal groups. Travelling and camping with a portable pedal organ, which Agnes played in homesteads and shearing sheds, as her father conducted religious services.

BELTANA: Reverend Robert Mitchell, pioneer founder of the Smith of Dunesk Mission standing by a buggy-cart which was used to travel the countryside around Beltana in the northern Flinders Ranges; the parish extended to the rail head at Oodnadatta. Approximately 1896

Photograph of a lady seated at a small organ outside a stone building, with other buildings in the distance. Identified as ''Agnes Mitchell at the Smith of Dunesk Mission organ. Beltana Manse. 1898'', SLSA

Photograph of a group of men standing at the front of a large stone building. A tall wooden crane stands nearby loading bales of wool onto a cart. Caption reads 'Shearers. Beltana.' Approximately 1897, SLSA

Photograph on a postcard of two women dressed in smock gowns standing on the verandah of a timber building. Caption reads [Nurses Smith of Dunesk Mission]. Approximately 1897

1900s

Beltana Hotel, Beltana, South Australia c 1900, State Library of South Australia

In 1900 the population of Beltana numbered 500.

Government School, Beltana - Pupils and Teachers assembled outside. In 1900 the population of Beltana numbered 500. The school was originally located at Sliding Rock but later was dismantled and rebuilt at Beltana. The present building was built in 1893 and operated as a one teacher school with approximately 30 students, Approximately 1897

BELTANA

"The Rev R Mitchell, who established the Smith of Dunesk mission here, some eight years ago, has been paying a visit to Hawker. His successor, Rev J B Reid, is making the mission a blessing to the far north, both spiritually and physically.

The poor of Beltana reap great benefits in the shape of medical attendance and medicine, given ungrudgingly by the mission, and also healthy literature.

Mr Mitchell has a warm place in the hearts of the northern people. He left for Moolooloo today, and thence will go to Parachilna."
Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931), Friday 11 December 1903

Donkeys of Beltana

Donkeys were invaluable in the arid conditions of Beltana. They required little food and are strong and hardy animals.

Thomas Elder and Samuel Stuckey had imported the donkeys (from Spain) to provide transport and carry goods in the region and to Port Augusta. Beltana became famous for its donkey studs.

Some donkeys worked in teams of 20-30.

BELTANA: Station children starting off for school in a donkey cart. Approximately 1919, SLSA

Reverend John Flynn who later established the Royal Flying Doctor Service was based at the Presbyterian Mission at Beltana in 1911.
The Australian Inland Mission opened a nursing home at Beltana in 1919.

BELTANA: The renovated Smith of Dunesk house opening as the Australian Inland Mission's 'Mitchell Home', a nursing home, in 1919, SLSA

1920s

Three Aboriginal men at Beltana, "The man on the right is Angorichina Tommy. He worked on Nilpena Station over 60 years ago", circa 1921, SLSA

'I was once two years and a half at Beltana Presbyterian Inland Nursing Mission.' said Sister. Kinnear with a reminiscent smile, Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), Tuesday 5 February 1924

Hassan (Harry) Monsoor

Hassan (Harry) Monsoor migrated from Lebanon to Australia in 1900 at age seventeen. Martin's house at Beltana had fallen into disrepair when it was purchased by Harry and his wife, who then set-up a general store. This store became the base for a hawking business in the South Australian outback.

The National Motor Museum in Birdwood, South Australia, has restored the hawker’s motor van operated by Harry Mansoor between 1928 and 1954.

National Motor Museum in Birdwood, South Australia has restored the hawker’s motor van operated by Harry Mansoor

Sports at Beltana

The Beltana and district residents hold a yearly sports meeting for children, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 27 June 1925

Aboriginal people from Beltana, SA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Saturday 14 November 1925

1930s

THE FIRST OUTPOST OF THE MISSION reached after leaving Adelaide is at Beltana, and the next is at Oodnadatta. There is no resident doctor at either or these places. The photo shows the hostel of the mission at Beltana with, the 'Amy Fairfax' Ward on the left Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), Saturday 3 September 1932

OUTBACK TRANSPORT. One sees many curious vehicles in the interior. This is Mr. J. Connors, a Beltanaidentity, in a sulky made from the first motor-car to travel from Beltana to Innamincka.Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 21 June 1934

This memorial cairn stands on Beltana Station, north of Hawker, and commemorates the setting out of the Giles exploring party in May 1875, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 22 August 1935

Donkey team at Beltana, SA, Chronicle (Adelaide, SA : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 24 November 1938
The coal-mining town of Leigh Creek attracted many hopeful miners during the 1940s and 50s and many left Beltana.

1940s

MRS. JACKY WITCHETTY, a white woman, shown in this picture with a group of natives, lives as a lubra at Beltana, South Australia. She is believed to be the only white woman to have gone completely native. Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), Saturday 21 June 1941

MISS JOAN BEATTIE, 22, arrived by train in Adelaide today from Croydon, New South Wales. Tomorrow she will leave on her 400-mile train journey to Beltana to be assistant for two years to Miss Dorothy Beard at the Australian Inland Mission HoStel at Beltana. Miss Beattie finished her nursing training last year.News (Adelaide, SA : 1923 - 1954), Wednesday 26 November 1947

Fossil Finds

Ediacara silver-lead mine, to the west of Beltana, boomed for a short period around 1890. However, later, in 1946, the geologist Reginald Sprigg discovered fossil imprints in rocks at the old Ediacara minefield. This discovery was very significant and the fossils that were found were named after Sprigg.

The Ediacaran Period was named after the location where the fossils were found.The fossils preserved in the ancient sea-floor at Ediacara record the first known multicellular animal life on Earth that predates the Cambrian.

Dickinsonia costata, an Ediacaran organism, displays the characteristic quilted appearance of Ediacaran enigmata, Verisimilus

Things Change

The Beltana railway station became redundant in 1956 when the narrow gauge line through Beltana was replaced by a standard gauge line that bypassed the town. The line is now closed.

In the 1950s the railway line was realigned, which meant fewer people travelled through Beltana.
During the 1980s, the road was moved further west and Leigh Creek became the main service town, leading to a further decline for Beltana.

Today, the Beltana state heritage area exhibits many buildings of heritage and historical significance. It is well worth a visit.

Around Beltana

Beltana School, SA, opened in 1893, replacing a wood and iron building moved from Sliding Rock to Beltana in 1878

Smith of Dunesk Mission at Beltana in South Australia, was founded in 1894 funded by a gift by Scotswoman Henrietta Smith (1782–1871) of Lasswade, near Edinburgh, made with the benefit of the Aboriginal people of South Australia particularly in view

The Great Northern Railway Line to Beltana, SA, was officially opened in 1881

Beltana, SA, was the second repeater station on the Overland Telegraph Line from Adelaide. A temporary telegraph office was opened in 1872, built of iron. The stone building which replaced it was opened in 1875