Welcome to Coward Springs
Introduction | Special Dates | Centenary of Federation
Aboriginal Connections | Photo Gallery

The mound springs of this area have given sanctuary to Aborigines for centuries and supplied valuable water to the construction sites for the Overland Telegraph Line.

Tom Coward named the springs when he discovered them during the Warburton Expedition of the 1850s.

The mounds were formed from an accumulation of dissolved salt deposits - not from volcanic cones as first throught. They form an arc from Lake Callabonna through Marree towards Oodnadatta. The largest is Dalhousie 70 kms north of Oodnadatta.

The repeater stations of Strangways and The Peake were an built at these obvious sites because of the permanent water supply from the mounds.