It is situated about 104 kilometres (65mi) west of Windorah and 232 kilometres (144mi) east of Birdsville in the channel country close to the border with South Australia.
The property is currently owned by S. Kidman & Co. and occupies an area of 6,240 square kilometres (2,409sqmi) with a carrying capacity of 14,000 head.[1]
History
The traditional owners of the area are the Karuwali, who have lived there for tens of thousands of years.[2] Their huts were constructed by a framework of arched branches covered in grass, leaves and soil. Their diet included the wild rice which grew in the region and their graves were mounds over which large logs were placed. Part of their mourning rites included covering their bodies with white clay which they called copi.[3]
Karuwali (also known as Garuwali, Dieri) is a language of far western Queensland. The Karuwali language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Diamantina Shire Council, including the localities of Betoota and Haddon Corner.[4]
The lease was first taken up, on Karuwali tribal lands, by pioneer and pastoralist John Costello in the late 1860s or early 1870s.[5] William Barker bought Morney Plains in 1876 along with the 1,000 head of cattle it was stocked with from the Collins brothers.[6]
The property was owned by Weir and Scott in 1881 when it was visited by a journalist who described it as "splendid country with hardly any grass on it simply to want for sufficient rainfall". The writer had been riding in a southerly direction along the Diamantina River and had described the area near the station as being lightly timbered stony country with large areas of saltbush and cotton bush.[3] In 1887 the homestead was washed away following exceptionally heavy rains in the area and the heaviest flooding known at the time.[7]
In 1927 the property was acquired by Ernest Castine for £27,500. Castine bought the property at auction from Coles Brothers Limited following the death of Thomas Kidman. The property occupied an area of 908 square miles (2,352km2) and was stocked with 7,500 head of cattle and 200 horses, and well watered by over four artesian bores.[8]
Craig Lasker and Nikki Smith have managed the property since 2000 after short stints at Ruby Plains Station and then Mooraberree Station, an outstation at Morney Plains. Drought struck in 2001 and continued through 2002, with the herd being reduced from 13,000 to 3,000 head of cattle. In 2003 a heavy downpour caused more damage than relief and later the same year the homestead burnt down killing the couple's two children. Despite the tragedy the couple stayed at Morney Plains and were still managing it in 2012.[10]
In 2013, the station was struck by drought again, requiring water to be piped from a bore to the homestead once the water in the dams had run dry.[11]
The Channel Country is a region of outback Australia mostly in the state of Queensland but also in parts of South Australia, Northern Territory and New South Wales. The name comes from the numerous intertwined rivulets that cross the region, which cover 150,000 km². The Channel Country is over the Cooper and Eromanga geological basins and the Lake Eyre Basin drainage basin. Further to the east is the less arid Maranoa district.
Sir Sidney Kidman, known as Sid Kidman and popularly named "the Cattle King", was an Australian pastoralist and entrepreneur who owned or co-owned large areas of land in Australia in his lifetime.
Cordillo Downs or Cordillo Downs Station is both a pastoral lease currently operating as a cattle station and a formal bounded locality in South Australia. It is located about 116 kilometres (72 mi) north of Innamincka and 155 kilometres (96 mi) south east of Birdsville. The name and boundaries of the locality were created on 26 April 2013 for the long established local name.
Innamincka Station, often called simply Innamincka, is a pastoral lease in the Australian state of South Australia. It operates as a cattle station. It is located about 4 kilometres north-east of the small township of the same name. 23 km (14 mi) west of the Queensland border, and 246 km (153 mi) south-east of Birdsville. As of 2012 the station – the second largest in South Australia after Anna Creek station – occupied an area of 13,552 square kilometres and was owned by the pastoral company, S. Kidman & Co.
Durham Downs Station, most commonly known as Durham Downs, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in Durham, Shire of Bullo in South West Queensland, Australia. The property is situated in a remote and arid location along Cooper Creek, where it often experiences drought and floods. It was originally established in the 1870s and belongs to S. Kidman & Co, which since 2016 has been owned by Gina Rinehart.
Marion Downs Station, often just referred to as Marion Downs, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in Queensland, Australia.
Diamantina Lakes Station, most commonly known as Diamantina Lakes, was a pastoral lease that once operated as a cattle station in central west Queensland, and is now Diamantina National Park, a national park.
Glengyle Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in central west Queensland.
Annandale Station, most commonly known as Annandale, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in central west Queensland. It is located on the tribal lands of the Wongkamala.
Nappa Merrie Station, most commonly known as Nappa Merrie, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in central west Queensland, Australia.
Pandie Pandie Station, most commonly known as Pandie Pandie, also often spelled as Pandi Pandi or Pandy Pandy, is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in north east South Australia. It lies on the eastern edge of Karanguru territory.
Durrie Station is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in Queensland, Australia.
Bulloo Downs Station most commonly referred to as Bulloo Downs is a pastoral lease that operates as a cattle station in the Shire of Bulloo, Queensland, Australia. It is located on the traditional lands of the Bitjara.
Naryilco Station, also known as Naryilco Downs, is a pastoral lease in Queensland, Australia, that operates as a cattle station.
Kidman's Tree of Knowledge is a heritage-listed tree at Glengyle Station, Bedourie, Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia. It is also known as Tree of Knowledge. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
