B&W (T) Burke's Grave Innamincka, South Australia, Australia
By Richary on 20-Aug-10. Waypoint GA2286

Commemorating the 150th anniversary of the expedition to travel Australia from south to north

Important Information
The Burke's Grave cache is located in Outback Australia and travel in this area can be extremely hazardous. Plan your trip with care;and seek and follow local advice on what precautions to take. Do not risk your life to log this geocache.

The Cache
The cache is an ammo can located near the cairn that marks Wills Grave. Note that very close is virtual Burke & Wills cache as well, GA2417.

The Expedition
The Victorian Exploring Expedition of 1860, usually known as the Burke and Wills expedition, stands as a landmark in Australian history. They succeeded in crossing the continent form South to North, at the cost of several lives. These geocaches mark important points associated with the Expedition.

Robert O'Hara Burke was a former soldier and police superintendant in country Victoria when he was selected to lead the Expedition. Their goal was to explore the unknown areas north of Cooper’s Creek with a view to finding a route to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Along the way, they were to conduct a full scientific survey, and identify good grazing land. If Melbourne were to establish an outpost on the North coast, it could also serve one day as the landing point for a transcontinental telegraph link.

The Expedition left Royal Park on the 20th of August 1860, with 19 men, 26 camels, 24 horses, six wagons and 21 tons of supplies. Many of these supplies were left along the way as Burke progressively streamlined the party, obsessed with the idea of beating rival explorer John Macdouall Stuart to the north coast. Burke came within kilometres of the open sea along the Gulf of Carpentaria with a small group of four men after a punishing journey across unforgiving country. He returned after four months to the depot site at Cooper’s Creek to find the relief party had left that very morning, burying a small cache of supplies near a tree marked with the word DIG. Burke and Wills died by the banks of the Cooper. Of the four men to reach the Gulf country, only John King survived.

The scientific goals of the expedition were greatly curtailed by Burke's haste, and much of the land they traversed is marginal grazing country at best. The eventual telegraph line followed Stuart’s route from Adelaide to Darwin. Nevertheless, the bravery and persistence shown by the members of the expedition has ensured their names live on even today.

Robert O'Hara Burke, leader of the Victorian Exploring Expedition, was buried near this site. Burke had returned form his trip to the Gulf of Carpentaria on the verge of collapse to find that the depot party had left Cooper's Creek that very day to return to Menindee. Burke decided that since they were too weak to follow the party across the desert, they would attempt to follow the Cooper toward Mount Disappointment, a police outpost 250 kilometres away. They had only one surviving camel, and minimal supplies. Thankfully, the local Yandruwandha people had established traditions of hospitality for travelers.

In desperation, Burke and King had reluctantly left an incapacitated William Wills downstream in an attempt to find assistance from the Yandruwandha people. Burke himself weakened further, until he could no longer walk. He implored King to place his pistol in his hand and wait with him until the end. Tearfully, King did as he requested. These are his last written words:

King has behaved nobly and I hope he will be properly cared for.

ROH Burke

Burke died on or around the 30th of June 1861.He requested his body be left to the elements. King left him to seek out the Yandruwandha, who took him in and cared for him until Alfred Howitt's relief expedition arrived several months later. It was this expedition that finally buried Burke, as seen in this painting, although both Burke and Wills' remains were later returned to Melbourne for a state funeral.

To claim the find you must sign the logbook.

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