Skeleton Creek Cairns History

Skeleton Creek Cairns north of Edmonton is thought by many to have gained its name from being the scene of a notorious massacre. In fact, initially the name Skeleton Creek was chosen after a European on horseback discovered a human skeleton near the creek.

A Mr. Hill led the Cairns Prospecting Expedition through the area in 1878. Hill saw a skeleton in the area and consequently named the creek ‘Skeleton Creek’. Hill himself interacted cordially with the Traditional Owners, the Yidinji people.

However, in a tragically ironic twist of history, seven years later the creek was indeed the location of a massacre of a number of Aboriginal people.

Skeleton Creek Cairns Massacre

The massacre of 1884 was recounted by Mr. Jack Kane, who had arrived in Cairns in 1882. He described it thus, “At Skull Pocket police officers and native trackers surrounded a camp of blacks before dawn, each man armed with a rifle and revolver.”

“At dawn one man fired into their camp and the natives rushed away in three other directions. They were easy running shots, close up. The native police rushed in with their scrub knives and killed off the children.”

Skeleton Creek Cairns Murders

He added, “I didn’t mind the killing of the “bucks’ but I didn’t quite like them braining the kids.”

The heads of the dead were cut off and left on stakes for all to see, to send the message not to fight back. The victims of this massacre were some from the Traditional Owner tribe of this area, the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji people. 

The events and details around the massacre (and the context in which it took place) are well covered by Historian Timothy Bottoms in The Frontier Series.

Skulls Taken Away

Some of the skulls of those murdered were eventually sent back to England to be ‘studied’ so Europeans could gather a better understanding of these beings from Australia.

There were no treaties made with the traditional owners at this time; in fact, they were barely seen as human.

The mistreatment, abuse and murder of many traditional owners remains a dark stain on Australia’s history and this was no different in the Far North. Indeed the ‘frontier mentality’ of the settlers remained long after other regions had established a more peaceful mindset.

However, over 100 years later Yidinji leader Gudju Gudju travelled to Europe to retrieve the bones of the fallen. Then working with Council he ensured the bones returned to country and put to rest. 

Skeleton Creek Cairns Map

Skeleton Creek Cairns Overpass

A new pedestrian overpass is proposed where the creek crosses under the highway. The Skeleton Creek Cairns Overpass will enhance safety for cyclists and pedestrians.

Relevant Material

• Gimuy
• Cairns Creeks
• Chinaman Creek
• Lake Morris
• Lily Creek
• Moody Creek
• Mulgrave River
• Saltwater Creek
• Trinity Inlet

Other Areas

• Central Cairns
• Cairns West
• Mount Whitfield
• North Cairns
• South Cairns

Cairns