When was gold discovered in cooktown

In Cooktown itself, over men sat around waiting impatiently for the rains to end. Teamsters travelling to the Palmer from Cooktown had to take their wagons on a circuitous route of km across rough and difficult country. Still, it was worth their while as the going rate for cartage of a ton of goods was the equivalent of 40 ounces of gold. While the risks were great so were the profits, and wagons and draught animals changed hands for fabulous sums.

The packhorse route was significantly shorter, but its narrow defiles were perfect spots for an ambush. Many travellers, particularly the poorly armed Chinese, lost their lives to Aboriginal attacks on this track.

The peak year on the Palmer was , with a recorded production of ounces of gold. In its first four years it produced a recorded 40 tons of alluvial gold. Possibly as much again was smuggled out by the Chinese, who began to arrive in force in late This had a devastating effect on the already failing township.

To further add insult to injury, with the close of the First World War in , Cooktown was dealt another blow, with a number of commercial buildings in the main street burning to the ground. Some say that the fire was a result of a long standing dispute between retailers, but no-one knows for sure. The town wells were quite limited for water and the pressure was too low for fire fighters to connect their hoses to. So they dragged the fire truck to the edge of the river and tried to get the water pumping.

Although the pressure from the river was far greater than the wells, it proved too high and the hoses were all split in two. There was no alternative but to let the buildings burn themselves out. This tragedy lasted for several days, and the vacant sites remain a reminder of what was even today. Contact Us Road Conditions.

Search Site only in current section. The goldfield was harsh and remote. Early diggers had to overcome disease, isolation, lack of supplies, tropical heat, monsoonal rains and floods. Many died of starvation or were shot by ruthless claim-jumpers. Some struck it rich and were ripe for exploitation upon reaching 'civilised' Cooktown. Drunken sprees and enticing prostitutes parted many prospectors from their newfound wealth, forcing them back in search of gold. Chinese workers arrived by the shipload.

Sponsored by Chinese merchants, each had to repay his debt before prospecting for himself. The Chinese industriously re-worked European sites as the Europeans moved from claim to claim chasing richer finds. As gold reserves diminished, anti-Chinese feelings developed. The government tried to quell European unrest by imposing extra charges and taxes. The Chinese persevered and became the major gold producers on the field.

Life for Aboriginal people who had hunted and fished the area for generations was completely disrupted. In , gold was found in Gympie then Palmer gold field started in There are two photos in John Oxley library showing two Chinese gold diggers starting for work and relaxing after work in s. The drawing shows a group of Chinese people happily marching to Palmer Gold Field.

The first person seems to be a leader wearing traditional Chinese dress, officer hat and holding an umbrella. They were all carrying goods using Chinese shoulder pole. It seems Chinese gold digger had a good time in the beginning. There is a copy of Chinese translation in John Oxley collection.

The translation was 'By order of the Commissioner J. McDonald Esqre. Hand-written in Chinese characters. See Poy was born in a poor family and their journey to Palmer was not as joyful as showing in the picture.

He described the hard three-month journey from Cooktown to Palmer gold mine. A couple of times, See Poy thought about returning to China. At the end, they abandoned the garden. In the peak time of Palmer gold field, there were over 10, Chinese but not all of them were digging gold, about half of them grew vegetables, cooked meals and conducted other services like Kwong Sue Duk, the herbalist.

Kwong Sue Duk had totally different life experience with See Poy. He went to California in his teens and made his first bucket of gold.

In , he came back to China and learnt herbal medicine.