The European exploration of the Simpson Desert is an obscure but nonetheless fascinating part of Australia's Outback history. Remarkable men like David Lindsay, Ted Colson and Cecil Maddigan pushed themselves beyond the limit of our knowledge at the time to explore one of the most hostile parts of the planet. Lindsay was supremely nonchulant in his journals, Colson very matter of fact, and Maddigan played down his awesome intellect. The explorers of the Simpson Desert contributed much to our understanding of the Australian Outback.

    
"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrowmindedness"
Mark Twain
  
 
Explorer Charles Sturt was the first white man to encounter the Simpson. Trying to penetrate its eastern boundary he records in his journal September 1845 -
 "The ridges extended northwards in parallel lines beyond the range of vision, and appeared as if interminable. To the eastward and westward they succeeded each other like the waves of the sea. The sand was of a deep red colour, and a bright narrow line of it marked the top of a ridge, amidst the sickly pink and glaucous coloured vegetation around."
He discovered and named Eyre Creek, but the endless sandridges, and an outbreak of scurvy amongst his team forced him back somewhere near the Queensland/Northern Territory border. Charles Sturt was a remarkable explorer for his time.
In 1880, Augustus Poeppel, a surveyor with the South Australian Survey Department commenced a survey west of Haddon Corner along the Queensland/South Australian border along the 26th. Parallel. He determined the tri state border to be in the middle of what is now known as Lake Poeppel, and he marked the junction with a coolibah (Eucalyptus microtheca) post he had carried with him from Eyre Creek. On his return to Adelaide, it was discovered that the links in his surveyor's chain had stretched. Poeppel’s border post was too far westward by 300 metres. In 1884, surveyor Larry Wells moved the post to its proper position on the eastern bank of Lake Poeppel. The tri state border is now known as Poepples Corner.
In January 1886 surveyor David Lindsay, under the employ of the Minister for Education, and with some assistance from Sir Thomas Elder and the Royal Geographical Society (SA) set out from Dalhousie with Paddy – a Wangkangurru Aboriginal man and Charles Bagot, the pastoral leasee of Dalhousie Station and headed east into the Simpson Desert. He visited and documented a series of nine Aboriginal wells (Mikiri), travelling as far eastward as the Queensland/Northern Territory border. Considering the country further eastwards to be “discovered” and also considering Mr. Bagot's health, he backtracked to Dalhousie. In a strict sense, Lindsay did not cross the Simpson Desert, however he would have had no problems travelling the further 160kms to Birdsville had he desired. Lindsay led the Elder Scientific Expedition, and later moved to Darwin where he lost money in speculation and lies there in an unmarked grave. David Lindsay was a remarkable man.    
               
Ted Colson was the first European to cross the Simpson Desert. An accomplished bushman and explorer, he had travelled from his native South Australia to the W.A. goldfields and worked on the construction of the Maroondah dam in Victoria. He had constructed roads in Central Australia, and in 1931 after a stint working on the Ghan railway construction; he took over the abandoned station of Bloods Creek near Abminga. In short, Colson had seen good rains falling to the east; so, together with an Aboriginal companion, Peter Ains and five camels he departed Bloods Creek on 26th. May 1936 traversed the 26th.parallel to Poeppels Corner and on to Birdsville. Legend says he had a beer at the bar of the Birdsville Pub then turned around and re traced his tracks home. Whether he only had one beer seems unlikely, as he spent four days in Birdsville before commencing his return, which took a more southerly route. Nonetheless, his feat was truly remarkable, travelling over 900 kms through mostly unexplored hostile country in just 36 days. His accomplishment remained largely unheralded, which seems to fit well with this man, a master of understatement.
Cecil Madigan was educated at Adelaide High School, then Prince Alfred College. He won a scholarship to the University of Adelaide and was selected as a Rhodes Scholar to study geology at Oxford. He took leave from his studies at Sir Douglas Mawson’s invitation to join the Australian Antarctic Expedition 1911 to Cape Denison. He was awarded the Kings Polar Medal in 1914. He served as a Captain of the Royal Engineers in WW1 in France, and after some time in Africa, returned to Adelaide to work under Mawson at the University of Adelaide. Madigan was fascinated with the Simpson Desert, and flew several reconnaissance flights over the area in 1929.It was this year that Madigan named the desert after Allen Simpson, the then President of the Royal Geographical Society in Adelaide, and a major financial backer of his work. It had previously been referred to as the Arunta Desert, or the far more evocative “Great Ribbed Desert”. In 1939, Madigan mounted a very heavily equipped scientific expedition and crossed the Simpson Desert north of Colson’s route. Madigan’s crossing achieved such publicity that it completely overshadowed Colson’s. Madigan’s scientific contribution was considerable.

Diamantina Touring Company offer the most indepth expeditions into the Simpson Desert, operating from March till October. More

If you have any special queries e-mail us here

  
 
Click Here to return to the Simpson Desert Index
  
keywords: simpson desert,outback history, explorer, david lindsay, poeppel, sturt, maddigan, ted colson, diamantina
 
index