The pioneers of Australian civilisation in the territory known as North Queensland have mostly passed away; they were too busy with other activities and interests and more absorbing local topics to make notes of the days that are gone. A record of the work they did, and their march of progress through the unknown land, was a matter that no one recognised as of any importance to themselves or others. “The daily round and common task” took up most of their time, and sufficient for the day was the work thereof. If one (however unqualified) should record a few of those early steps of settlement, and thus help to preserve the remembrance of events connected with the occupation of a prosperous country, the facts would remain, and be available for those more competent to utilise them in other ways and for other purposes. It is well that some one should do it, and one who has experienced the vicissitudes of Northern pioneer life, with its calls on active endurance and its ceaseless worries would not be altogether unfit to note the progress of a great movement, or to place on record some of those events that helped to make up the early life of Queensland, however unqualified the writer might be, in a literary sense. A pioneer is one who prepares the path for others to follow, one who first leads the way. The life of the pioneer in the early days of Northern settlement, from want of ready communication with seaports, and the lack of means of obtaining supplies, was one that called out all the energy, resource, and bushmanship of those who had been trained to this life, and who had pushed far in the van of civilisation to make a living for themselves, and open the way for others who might follow. Though the whole country is fitted for settlement and occupation by European races, such fitness had to be demonstrated by the residence and work of the pioneers, some of whom did good service in the way of exploration and discovery. By living their lives in the far outside districts and making their homes therein, they proved the adaptability of the soil and climate to the wants and civilisation of the European.

That there were more shadows than lights in those early days was not so much the fault of the settlers as of their surroundings, but the best was made of all circumstances, and the result is satisfactory. Very few of the pioneers made wealth for themselves, though they helped to convert the wilderness into prospective homes for millions of their own race.

The story of North Queensland’s childhood is simply one of gradual discovery and advancing settlement from the Southern districts, where the same severe course of wresting the land from uselessness and sterility had been gone through. The source of this movement may be traced chiefly to a desire for pastoral extension by squatters, always on the move for new pastures, and to the ever roving prospector in search of fresh mineral discoveries.

First the navigator outlines the coast with its bays and islands and openings for ports; such were Cook, Flinders, Stokes, and others. Then the explorer appears on the scene, and discovers its rivers and facilities for establishing the occupation of the country, and maps out its capabilities. Such were Leichhardt, Mitchell, Gregory, Landsborough, and many others. Thus the way is opened up for the pioneer squatter with his flocks and herds and the attendant business of forming roads and opening ports for his requirements, holding his own against many odds, droughts, floods, outrages by blacks, fevers that follow the opening up of all new countries, and losses peculiar to life in the wilderness.

Following the pioneer (or Crown lessee, as he is called) in course of time comes a closer settlement, when the large runs become divided, and the selector or farmer holds the country under a more permanent tenure. Cultivation follows, whilst families reside where the pioneer squatter strove with nature in a long struggle many years before.

The development of North Queensland has taken place since separation from New South Wales; the period of a single generation covers the time that it has taken to settle this large extent of country. The continuous discovery of natural wealth, the progress of settlement, the healthy growth of the great industries, the establishment of a system of oversea, coastal, and inland communications, the creation of great cities, the founding of social and educational institutions, in fact all that makes the colony of to-day, with its potentialities of industrial wealth and expansive settlement, have been covered by the span of a single life.

In 1824, Lieutenant Oxley discovered and explored the Brisbane River. Redcliffe, so named a quarter of a century before by Flinders, but now generally known as “Humpy Bong,” was the original site selected for the first settlement on the shores of Moreton Bay. Some convicts had been forwarded there from Sydney to form the settlement, but owing to attacks by blacks and the unsuitability of site, it was removed to the present one of Brisbane. Up to 1839, the dismal cloud of convictism was over this fair land before it was thrown open to free settlers.

Over 12 degrees of latitude, and as many of longitude, through a country previously unknown and untested as to climate and soil, the course of advancing occupation went on unchecked, until the land was filled with the outposts of civilisation, and the potentialities of the colony were ascertained. Great indeed are the conquests of peace; much greater than those of war; more beneficial and more permanent.

The first sale of Brisbane lands took place in Sydney in 1841, and next year a sale was held in Brisbane; the third took place in 1843, and there was not enough land surveyed to meet the demand, so small was Brisbane in those early days. The upset price was £100 per acre, although much more was realised for some lots. Even at those prices, many buyers suffered a loss, for a commercial crisis occurred shortly afterwards, and much of the property was forfeited, or resold at much lower prices.

For the year 1843, the exports consisted of 150 tierces of beef, 450 hides, 1,998 bales of wool, 3,458 sheepskins, and 3,418 feet of pine timber.

The foundations of trade, so modest at the start, have developed in one lifetime to a nation’s wealth. In 1844, in the territory then forming the colony, there were 650 horses, 13,000 cattle, 184,000 sheep, and scarcely more than 1,500 of a population, one half of whom were domiciled in North and South Brisbane. At the present day, the products of the live stock of the State furnishes employment for thousands, and forms a volume of trade that employs the finest lines of steamers sailing in the Southern Seas.

It is needless to dwell on the history of the dark days of bondage and weakly infancy, which has little to do with the early days of settlement in North Queensland, except to show the starting point. The North is free from the stain and drag of convictism. The real life of the colony began with the first days of free settlers, then immigrants poured in rapidly, and the occupation of the interior advanced. With this strong growth of material progress, came also the desire for self-government, and separation from New South Wales. This, however, was not obtained without much exertion, self-sacrifice, and display of patriotic energy. The history of the separation movement is long, extending over many years, but it was finally consummated on 10th December, 1859, when Sir George Ferguson Bowen was sworn in as the first Governor of Queensland. The boundary line of the new colony commenced at Point Danger, near the 28th parallel of south latitude and ran westward, leaving the rich districts watered by the Clarence and Richmond rivers, although much nearer to Brisbane than to Sydney, still belonging to New South Wales. After separation and self-government, came the commencement, in 1865, of the railway from Ipswich towards the interior. The discovery of gold at Gympie, near Maryborough, in 1867, and the rapid extension of the ever-spreading pastoral industry, laid the foundation of national life in Queensland. From this solid basis, the settlement of North Queensland commenced in earnest, with a more rapid extension than had been seen in any other part of Australia.

Telegraphic communication was established between Brisbane and Sydney on November 9th, 1861, and its inauguration had a marked effect on local affairs. The immigration induced by Mr. Henry Jordan was an important factor in the settling of people on the land in the early days of Queensland.

In 1869, Townsville was connected by wire with Brisbane, and in 1872 the line was extended to the mouth of the Norman River at Kimberly, now known as “Karumba,” the intention being that the first cable to connect Australia with Europe should be landed at the mouth of the Norman River, but, for reasons which have never been made public, South Australia was allowed to step in and reap the advantages which should have belonged to Queensland, although we carried out our share of the work by constructing, at great expense, a special land line across the base of the Cape York Peninsula, from Cardwell, across the Sea View Range, to Normanton and Kimberly at the mouth of the river.

The last service rendered by Walker, the explorer, was in connection with the selection of the route of the telegraph line from Cardwell to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Mr. Walker’s second in command was a fine young man of the name of Herbert Edward Young, who was subsequently telegraph master in Townsville in the year 1871. Mr. Young received an injury in the service which eventually resulted in his untimely death very shortly after his marriage.

Australia was connected with Europe by cable in 1872. Queensland thus starting on its career so hopefully was nevertheless subject to periods of depression, booms, and crises, prosperity and hard times alternated. And then came the “salvation by gold.” The discovery of gold came as a hope and help to all, as it came to the North a few years later. It helped to find markets for stock of all kinds and employment for thousands, and also to extend the settlement of the land and open up commerce with other countries, introducing immigrants or diggers, many of whom remained and settled in the country. But the young country had to be opened up and some degree of settlement established before mining for gold could be carried on.

In all parts of Queensland, pastoral settlement has preceded all others, including mining. Though the squatter is now, in the more settled districts, becoming a thing of the past, his work being finished and his day gone by, at the first enterprise, bush knowledge and a practical life were the most potent factors in making known the possibilities of the land of Queensland.

The name “squatter” was given in the early days to the pastoral tenants of the Crown, who rented pasture lands in their natural state. The first pastoral occupation took place about 1840, and this may be said to have commenced the life history of the movement that made Queensland known to the world. Large areas were occupied on the banks of rivers and creeks where the splendid and nutritive indigenous grasses required no further cultivation. All that the squatters did was to turn their stock loose on them and exercise some care to prevent them from straying, or being killed and scattered by the blacks. No country was ever endowed by Nature with a more permanent, healthy, and beneficial pasturage than Australia, though heavy stocking and hot dry seasons have somewhat diminished the value of this natural wealth in some of the earlier settled districts. The chief source of employment in the Colony of Queensland, and the leading export, is still derived from the stock depastured on the native grasses that were found when the State was first explored.

A company or syndicate was formed in February, 1859, for the purpose of establishing a new pastoral settlement in North Australia. The project was conceived in consequence of the reports of explorers who had passed through much of the country to be operated on. These reports were from the journals of Sir Thomas Mitchell, Dr. Leichhardt, A. C. Gregory, the Rev. W. B. Clarke, and others. The prospectus was of a most ambitious and comprehensive nature, and it showed an intention to overcome, or make light of, all obstacles, and to march straight on to glory and wealth, as well as to start a young nation on its prosperous career. The area of the proposed new settlement was comprised within the 22nd parallel of S. latitude, the 137th degree of east longitude on the west, and on the north and east by the ocean, practically including what is now known as North Queensland.

The report of the Rev. W. B. Clarke, which was favourable to the probability of auriferous country being discovered, and of rich deposits of gold being met with on the northern rivers, was a great factor in promoting the project of founding a settlement which was to establish a thriving and industrious European and Oriental mercantile and planting community. The immediate design was to commence a detailed exploration of the country reported on by Dr. Leichhardt. The prospectus dwelt on the advantages of thoroughly exploring the rivers and country and making known the capabilities of the soil and climate to the capitalists of Australia as a field for investment. The programme mapped out was:—To proceed from Rockhampton direct to Leichhardt’s camp in the bed of the Burdekin River at Mount McConnel. To trace the Burdekin down to the sea in canoes, taking soundings to establish its navigable capabilities; to fix its mouth and its qualifications as a seaport. To fix the probable head of navigation, and a favourable site for a goods depÔt there. To return to Mount McConnel; thence to explore the lower Suttor, lower Cape, and Burdekin Valley as far as the Valley of Lagoons, ascending the river by its western, and returning by its eastern bank; to fix the most favourable position as near as possible to water carriage for the first establishment of pastoral stations, and to trace the most accessible route from the latter to the former. To return to the settled districts by a different route, viz.: to trace up the Cape or Belyando River to its head in latitude 24 degrees, to cross the great watershed, and to drop down upon the Maranoa, which was to be followed to about latitude 26 degrees, where the course was to be left and a route made down the River Culgoa, arriving in the settled districts by the lower Condamine.

By adopting this route, the whole frontier, from the Valley of Lagoons to Gregory’s last track down the Victoria (or Barcoo) would be explored; thus, without additional outlay, deciding whether Leichhardt pushed westward by the Victoria according to Gregory, or what is more probable, from some point upon the Belyando or Burdekin, according to the Rev. W. B. Clarke. The person in charge of the party was to prepare a full report upon the country traversed, while the surveyor of the party was to draw out a chart of the region explored, copies of the report and chart to be furnished to each of the subscribers, who would then be in a position individually or collectively to take measures for tendering for and occupying the country, by sending their stock overland, and their stores, etc., by water to the depÔt at the head of navigation.

The cost of the exploration was estimated at about £1,000, to meet which it was proposed to raise that sum by subscription; unless that amount were subscribed, the expedition to be abandoned. The leader proposed was George Elphinstone Dalrymple. The names of the subscribers of £50 each were:—Captain J. C. Wickham, R.N., Messrs. J. C. White, John Douglas, Gilbert Davidson, P. N. Selheim, A. D. Broughton, George Perry, W. A. Simpson, Ernest Henry, A. H. Palmer, Garland and Bingham, J. B. Rundle, Joseph Sharp, D. McDougal, Raymond and Co., R. Towns and Co., Griffith, Fanning and Co., How, Walker and Co., Dennison and Rolleston, F. Bundock, Edwd. Ogilvie, R. G. Watt, and J. R. Radfort.

It was intended that a committee of these subscribers should be at once formed in Sydney. The reasons given for the projection of a party with such a comprehensive and magnificent scheme before it were: 1st—Because the supply of butchers’ meat was even then unequal to the demand, and the latter increased more rapidly than the former. 2nd—Because the demand for sheep stations as an investment for capital was far beyond the capabilities of the settled districts; and the capital available for speculation in Melbourne in particular, was seeking new fields for employment. 3rd—Because the number of small or moderate capitalists who annually immigrate with a view to pastoral pursuits could find no field of operations within the settled districts, had to push northwards, and in a short time would occupy all available country within practicable distance of the most remote existing, or contemplated ports of shipment—Port Curtis and Broad Sound.

It was anticipated that other ports equal to Moreton Bay, with its highly-favoured back-ground, Darling Downs, would be opened up by exploration. The character of the country reported on by Dr. Leichhardt, intersected as it was by some very interesting rivers, such as the Suttor, Burdekin, Mitchell, and Lynd, warranted such a favourable conclusion.

The tablelands were high, and possessed of a cool and healthy climate; the soil on the banks of the rivers was of a rich nature, suitable for agriculture; the pasturage was unequalled for stock of all kinds; and the mineral prospects were favourable towards the settlement of a mining community. All this undeveloped natural wealth lay at the disposal of any who might enter and bring it under the magic influence of capital and enterprise.

In their wildest moments of enthusiasm, none of those enterprising colonists could have foreseen what a few years would bring forth. None could have expected to see in the short space of less than thirty years that, where the mangrove then fringed the shore, jetties and harbours would be built, and that great ocean-going steamers and vessels from all parts of the world would be found discharging valuable cargoes collected from many lands; that great cities would arise adjacent to these harbours, that land would be sold by the foot at high prices; that these thriving towns would be the termini of many railways reaching far away into that unknown interior which they were so anxious to explore, bringing in the natural products of the soil valued at many millions of pounds annually for shipment to the markets of the world, or that the mining prospects so modestly alluded to in their prospectus would be developed to such an extent as to produce hundreds of tons weight of gold. These men were the pioneers of a new colony; they looked out over the wilderness extending northwards to the Indian Ocean, and laid their plans to conquer and subdue it to the wants of civilised man. The promoters of this pioneering enterprise anticipated the probability of the deep indentation of the Gulf of Carpentaria enabling direct oceanic communication with the Western world, as well as with India and China, to be established, and that the projected telegraphic connection with Europe by way of Timor and Java might be extended by way of the level bed of the Gulf, and along the valley of the Lynd and Burdekin Rivers into the territory of Moreton Bay, thus bringing North Queensland and Brisbane nearer to the marts of the world than any of the sister colonies. The progress of civilisation has brought all this to pass within the memory of those now living.

Our Queensland land policy is a legacy of the old days of New South Wales, where the first attempt to confer a right to property in land was by way of grant. It dates from the time of Governor Phillip, the first Governor of New South Wales; these grants were made to any free immigrants on certain conditions.

The system of tenure by occupation began about 1825, and was the origin of the squatting system; the production of fine merino wool gave a great impetus to the occupation of the waste lands. The licenses were annual, the rate of charge rested with the Governor, and they were renewable and transferable. But much dissatisfaction arose with the administration by the Crown Lands Commissioners who had the disposal of all disputes connected with the new system. Hence an agitation was set up for a redress of grievances, and this led to the passing of the 9th and 10th Victoria c. 104—28th August, 1846. In this act power was granted to the Crown to lease for any term of years not exceeding fourteen, to any person, any waste lands, etc., or license to occupy; such lease or license to be subject to the regulations thereafter mentioned. On the 9th of March, 1847, the celebrated orders in Council, framed under the authority of this act, were issued. The lands in the Colony of New South Wales were divided into three classes, “settled,” “intermediate,” and “unsettled.” As respects Queensland, the settled districts were confined to very limited areas within ten miles of the town of Ipswich, and within three miles of any part of the sea coast. All the rest of the territory now comprised in the boundaries of the State was left in the unsettled districts; but power was given to the Governor to proclaim any portion as within the intermediate districts when necessary. The lease gave the right to purchase part of the land within the lease to the lessee and to him only; other acts dealing with the sale of land had been passed, and land had been alienated under them; but the leases and regulations under the orders in Council forbade the sale of any waste land to anyone except the lessee. When a run was forfeited, tenders might be given, stating the term of years for which the tenderer was willing to take it, the rent he would give in addition to the minimum fixed by the act, and the amount of premium he would pay. In the event of competition, the run was to be knocked down to the highest bidder.

Where new runs were tendered for, the tenderer was to set forth in his tender a clear description of the run and its boundaries, and also whether he was willing to give any premium beyond the rent. The rent was to be proportioned to the number of sheep or equivalent number of cattle which the run was estimated to be capable of carrying according to a scale to be established by the Governor; but no run was to be capable of carrying less than 4,000 sheep, or to be let for less than £10 per annum, to which £2 10s. was added for every additional 1,000 sheep. The estimated number of sheep or cattle was decided by a valuator named by the intended lessee and approved by the Commissioner of Crown Lands, who, with an umpire chosen by the two, acted as a small court of arbitration. The scheme was fitted in its simplicity to encourage exploration on the largest possible scale.

Proclamations issued by the Government of New South Wales to give further effect to the “orders,” authorised an assessment on stock pastured beyond the settled districts, which was levied at the rate of a halfpenny for each sheep, three halfpence for every head of cattle, and threepence for every horse; and returns were directed to be made by every pastoral lessee under severe penalties. Under these several acts and orders, the Executive and the squatters came into collision, and disputes arose as to the meaning of many clauses in the various Land Acts; but no material alteration had been made at the time when Queensland was separated from New South Wales, although the Constitution Act of New South Wales, July, 1855, vested in the local legislature the entire management and control of the waste lands of the colony. In 1859, when the Colony of Queensland was separated from New South Wales, the pastoral interest was in the ascendant, and this is considered to have been made evident by the first land legislation of the new colony. The first consideration of the new Government was legislation for leasing and selling the land. A very large number of tenders for Crown Lands had been accepted by the New South Wales Government, or had been applied for and were in abeyance, and until a decision was given on these applications, the land was lying idle and waste. One-fourth of the entire unoccupied territory had been applied for, the result of the energy of pioneering pastoralists, and the prospects opening up for new pastoral settlements. The first bill presented to the new Parliament on 11th July, 1860, was introduced by the Colonial Treasurer, an old squatter, Mr.—afterwards Sir R. R.—Mackenzie. Some of the provisions of the old orders in Council were followed; they accepted the unsettled districts as declared in them. The intermediate were abolished. Applications for licenses for a year were to be accompanied by a clear description of runs, to be not less than 25 nor more than 100 square miles, with a fee of 10s. per square mile. These entitled the lessee to a lease of 14 years. The land to be stocked at the time of application to be one-fourth of its grazing capabilities.

This was fixed by the act at 100 sheep or 20 head of cattle to the square mile; the rent to be appraised after four years for the second and third remaining periods of five years each, at the commencement of each period. As to the runs tendered for and still unstocked, the provisions were extended, but lessees were compelled to stock their land to one-fourth of the extent fixed by the act. The tide of speculation in unoccupied land was stayed, there arose a great demand for stock of all kinds, and those pastoralists in the south, who had flocks and herds to dispose of, realised great prices. Afterwards the colony passed through some troublesome years, and a Relief Act was required; and as a vast area of the young colony had still to be occupied, encouragement was held out to settlers to take up runs. The Pastoral Leases Act of 1869, gave another impetus to the settlement of outside districts, and acted as a relief to many who had taken up runs under the previous acts. The new leases were to be for a term of 21 years, and the new Act also dealt with leases under existing acts. Where new country was applied for, a license had to be taken out, and a declaration made that the country was stocked to one-fourth of its grazing capabilities, the rent being 5s. per square mile for the first 7 years; 10s. for the second term, and 15s. for the third term. Every succeeding Government tried a new Land Bill, some dealing with selection, land orders to new arrivals being part of the system; but the tendency of all succeeding land legislation down to the present day has been to allow more liberal terms to the prospective selector. The conditions were made so restrictive in the first days as to lead one to conclude that land selection was almost a crime; whereas the genuine selector in remote districts has enough to contend with in opening his land for some kind of cultivation and facing the seasons, etc., without being forced to make improvements he will not require. The grazing selector is a coming power in the land; a grade between the old squatter and the small selector. The discovery of artesian water will be a factor of the utmost importance to him as tending to assure his position from loss by drought. The grazing selector is spreading over the interior rapidly; and before the expiration of the leases now in existence, more land legislation is sure to be introduced to liberalise the terms and initiate a system for obtaining the freehold of parts of these large grazing farms. The history of our land laws shows them to have been simply experimental at every stage, hence the need for repeated alterations.

It would have been a good thing for Queensland, I might say for Australia, if a similar policy to that of the United States of America had been followed, namely the throwing open of the public estate on the most liberal terms and the encouragement of private enterprise in railways.