Grave of Michael Tobin – Monument Australia – Photo Chris McLoughlin
Michael TOBIN died on the 7th of April 1907 aged 33 years at Wadda Waddah Well or No 40 Well on the newly proposed stock route from the Kimberly called the Canning Stock Route. He was buried on a sandy ridge 250 metres from well No 40. His burial was confirmed by A G Clifton and H M Lawlers, witnesses present at the burial were Joseph Tobin (his brother) and Alfred Wernam Canning. His death was registered by Alfred Wernam Canning, Officer in Charge of the survey party on the stock route. Robert Shaw Moody marked the tree at the head of Tobin’s grave after helping to bury him. His death was registered as Pilbara 11/1907.
Tobins Grave and blazed tree in 1940 – Photo SLWA
Tobin was the foreman of the Government boring party for the Wiluna Kimberly Exploration Expedition (W.K.E.E) and was speared by a native, Mungkututu, causing his death. Born circa 1874 in Burra Burra, South Australia he was the son of Irish parents, Michael Tobin and Mary Anne nee Hickey (later Kelly). He was a member of the first survey expedition led by Alfred Wernam Canning in 1906. Which was doing a preliminary survey for the stock route from Wiluna to Halls Creek. Lake Tobin was named in his honour. He had lived in WA for 13 years.
An old bloke, Robert Shaw Moody, a practically unknown pioneer, stepped back out of history to return to the Halls Creek he had known as a wild frontier town near the beginning of the 1900s. Early in 1906, the government decided to send a party to explore the so-called desert country between Wiluna and Halls Creek. The idea was to establish a stock route along which beef could be taken from the East Kimberly to the Goldfields. Canning was made the leader of the expedition which left the Wiluna on the 29th of May 1906 and headed north to Halls Creek.
Expedition Members: Front row – Tom Burke – Michael Tobin – Hubert Trotman
Back Row: Joseph Tobin – Alfred Wernam Canning – Edward Blake (Cook) – Otto Baumgarten – Photo: Geological Survey WA & TROVE
Rob Moody was a member of that expedition which explored the route and also the second expedition which established the watering places. It was on the first trip that Tobin was fatally speared by a desert Aborigine called Mungkututu near one of the native wells. He was approaching Mungkututu to question him about the water in the area when the native stabbed him with a spear, wounding him in the head. The spear passed through his temple and out through the lobe of his ear entering into his shoulder. Mungkututu, who was armed with several spears ran away a few yards, then turned and hurled his spear at Tobin, who raised his rifle at the same time and fired, killing him. The spear struck Tobin in the chest and he died some hours later in great pain. His final word was just ‘Goodbye’, he was buried beside the claypan the next day. Canning was to say:
“The Expedition was a success which was only marred by the sad loss of Mick Tobin who had worked though with the greatest intelligence and goodwill, his death being a great shock to the party with whom he was a general favorite.”
The second Canning expedition erected a marble cross encased in galvanised iron on Tobin’s grave. The grave is on the east side of the tree and on the other side the letters WHEE for Wiluna Kimberly Exploration Expedition are carved. The men were unable to install the cross on the upward journey as they had to continue on for stores, so they dug a deep hole and buried the cross temporarily covering it with heavy steel and well material. One their return they found local natives had dug up the cross and had chipped flakes off it to use as spear heads. To prevent further damage, using two old buckets, they then encased the cross in a U shaped frame. They then built a fence around it.
Canning Exploration Party leaving Day Dawn 7 May 1906 – Photo P Strugnell – TROVE
About the Canning Stock Route:
East Kimberly cattle suffered from a disease transmitted by ticks called red water fever. A total quarantine was placed on the cattle which meant that they could not be driven South through disease-free country. Pastoralists of the East Kimberly successfully lobbied for an inland stock route. Alfred Wernam Canning, a contract surveyor, was appointed surveyor in general. Canning’s deputy, Hubert Stanlake Trotman, with whom Canning had a farming partnership, assembled the survey team which left Day Dawn near Cue on the 7th of May 1906 and met Canning at Wiluna.
The local police loaned canning an Aboriginal tracker named Charlie, and the party left Wiluna on the 29th of May 1906. They overlanded roughly 1500 kilometres through the Gibson, Little and great Sandy deserts, over sand hills running roughly east and West.
The Late Michael Tobin – Western Mail 3 Aug 1907 pg 3
On completion of the 14-month survey, Canning reported to the Department of Lands that it would be possible to establish a stock route. In 1908, Canning was selected to lead the well-sinking expedition. Henry William Beamish Talbot, a West Australian Government geologist, travelled with the well-sinking party. Again, Hubert Trotman supervised the arduous task of packing the camels. Throughout the survey, he had the job of finding Aboriginal guides to help find water for the party and their stock. The Canning Stock route is now part of the Heritage Trail network. A project for community participation devised by the Western Australian Heritage Committee. A Commonwealth and State bicentennial project.
Mungkututu’s Headstone – located near Tobin’s. However, Mungktutu wasn’t buried there,he was buried that evening 1½ -2 miles away on a large sand ridge, slightly north of west from the well – Photo by Phil Bianchi
References:
Work Completed Canning – A Comprehensive History of the Canning Stock Route 1906-2010 by Phil Bianchi
Western Australian Lonely Graves – by Yvonne and kevin Coate – TROVE- Monument Australia
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