Burke and Wills thought they had been abandoned when they returned to Cooper Creek in 1861, because they found nothing the at first - no othermembers of the party they had left behind, no animals and no food. However, they eventually noticed a tree with an inscription -
Dig
3 Ft
NW
This meant for them to dig, where they found a cache of supplies, and a note informing them that the party had left only that day.
John King and Charlie Grey also travelled to the Gulf of Carpentaria with explorers Burke and Wills. Grey died on the return journey, and did not make it back to Cooper Creek.
Burke and Wills first arrived at Cooper Creek on 11 November 1860, but this wasn't Fort Wills. Within a couple of days, they were forced to move downstream due to a plague of rats. This was what became Fort Wills.
Robert O'Hara Burke and William Wills led the Australian expedition that was intended to bring fame and prestige to Victoria: being the first to cross Australia from south to north and back again. Burke's party left from Royal Park, Melbourne, in August 1860, and headed north-northwest to Menindee. Part of the group then pushed on to the Gulf of Carpentaria, with most remaining at Cooper Creek. Through poor judgement, lack of observation and a series of miscommunications, Burke and Wills never met up with the relief party at Cooper Creek on their return. Burke and Wills died around July 1861, without ever returning to Melbourne.
Explorers of Australia Burke and Wills died on the banks of Cooper Creek during their failed attempt to cross Australia from south to north and back. Their camp near where they died was close to where the present-day town of Innamincka now stands, in the far northeast of South Australia. they had reached the Gulf of Carpentaria, but on their return journey were unable to continue past their Cooper Creek camp.
Dig. (supplies were buried there)The full inscription read:Dig3 FtNW
Robert O'Hara Burke and William Wills led the Australian expedition that was intended to bring fame and prestige to Victoria: being the first to cross Australia from south to north and back again. Burke's party left from Royal Park, Melbourne, in August 1860, and headed north-northwest to Menindee. Part of the group then pushed on to the Gulf of Carpentaria, with most remaining at Cooper Creek. Through poor judgement, lack of observation and a series of miscommunications, Burke and Wills never met up with the relief party at Cooper Creek on their return. Burke and Wills died around July 1861, without ever returning to Melbourne.
Yes. Burke and Wills hoped to be the first explorers to cross overland from the south of Australia to the north. They departed from Melbourne and reached the Gulf of Carpentaria, but due to a series of misunderstandings and miscommunication, the relief party never reached Burke and Wills, and the men died out in the desert, on the banks of Cooper Creek.
Robert O'Hara Burke, with William Wills appointed second-in-command, led the 1860-61 expedition to try to cross Australia from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north - and back again. This distance was a distance of around 3,250 kilometres (approximately 2,000 miles). Burke's party left from Royal Park, Melbourne, in August 1860, and headed north-northwest to Menindee. Part of the group then pushed on to the Gulf of Carpentaria, with some men remaining at Cooper Creek. Through poor judgement, lack of observation and a series of miscommunications, Burke and Wills never met up with the relief party at Cooper Creek on their return. Burke and Wills died around July 1861, without ever returning to Melbourne.
The journey of Burke and Wills from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria was a distance of 2,800 km or 1,750 miles. They made it back about halfway before dying of malnutrition and nardoo poisoning on the banks of Cooper Creek, so add another 1,400 km.
The camp of Robert O'Hara Burke and William Wills was on Cooper Creek. The "Dig Tree", evidence of their camp, still stands, not far from the tiny town of Innamincka in far northeastern South Australia.
From Adelaide, Burke and Wills travelled north to just west of today's Balranald, north to Menindee, Torowoto, Bulloo and reached their camp at Cooper Creek. From here they made their way to the corner where Queensland and South Australia meet (but do not meet any other state), then north to the Gulf of Carpentaria. A map of Burke and Wills' route can be found at the related link below.
No. Burke and Wills hoped to be the first explorers to cross overland from the south of Australia to the north. They departed from Melbourne and reached the Gulf of Carpentaria, but due to a series of misunderstandings and miscommunication, the relief party never reached Burke and Wills, and the men died out in the desert, on the banks of Cooper Creek. The only one of the party who travelled to the Gulf and back and survived was John King, who was cared for by Aborigines.