Welcome to Daly Waters
Introduction | Special Dates | Centenary of Federation
Aboriginal Connections | Colourful Characters
Connecting the Kids | Photo Gallery

Explorer John McDouall Stuart discovered Daly Waters on May 28, 1862 having forced his way through lacewood scrub and harsh terrain at the rate of just over one kilometre a day. He named the springs after the new Governor of South Australia, Sir Dominick Daly.

It was here that Stuart was presumed to have carved the initial S on a tree during his successful journey to cross Australia from the north to south coast. It was ten years later, when the Overland Telegraph Line forged its way through this same harsh terrain.

The wet season had been horrendous. Around 500mm of rain had fallen in each of December and January and it was not until April 1872 that the construction parties on the northern line could resume their work.

By June they had finally reached Daly Waters. Here a pony express was organised to carry messages over the 430km gap in the line. It was hoped to relieve some of the pressure the government was facing in penalties as the contract completion date of January 1 had expired and the submarine cable had already landed at Port Darwin some months before.

The man responsible for the building of the Overland Telegraph Line, Charles Todd, had arrived at Daly Waters on June 22 1872. Two days later, John Lewis and one of his men, Hands, rode south from Daly Waters with the first private cables ever to reach Australia.

In an amazing stroke of good fortune, the Pony Express had only just disappeared from sight when news came through from Port Darwin that the submarine cable was dead. Two days later Todd rightly assumed the repair could take months and sent a man, Boucaut, after the Pony Express.

Boucaut caught up with them at Frews Pond and they rode together to Powell Creek where fresh horses were waiting. The Pony Express arrived in Tennant Creek on July 1, by which time Boucaut had been in the saddle for one hundred and one hours out of the one hundred and thirty hour journey. He had covered 421 kms over rough terrain. A truly remarkable feat.