1. Life on the
Overland Telegraph Line

2. More Memories of Life on
the Overland Telegraph Line

3. The Railway Dream

4.Overview of A Picnic
with the Natives

5. A summary of the
Barrow Creek conflict
as told in An End to Silence
by Peter Taylor

6. Kaytetye Country:
An Aboriginal history of the
Barrow Creek Area

7. The Tragedy at
Strangways Springs

8. Northern Territory
Survey Expedition

9. Adelaide to Darwin
by foot


Review of Frederick Goss' "Never Never Telegraphist"

This description of service as a Telegraph Operator on the Northern Section of the Overland Telegraph, and covering the years 1878 to 1903, was published in serial form (10 parts) by TELECOM in 1978.

It is by far, the most accurate and detailed description of work and living conditions in the "Top end" of the Northern Territory that I have read. As such it is a most interesting and historically valuable document.

C Leonard AUGUST 1980


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Some excerpts from
Kaytetye Country:
An Aboriginal history of the
Barrow Creek Area
Compiled and edited by Grace Koch, translated by Harold Koch, Institute of Aboriginal Development, Alice Springs

Told by Peter Horsetailer:

In reference to the Barrow Creek trouble "Yeah, well those people who lived a long time ago did that because they had to do it. The old Aboriginal people would tell me that the white men wanted Aboriginal women and that's what the Aboriginal men where crook about, all those men, because they worried about their wives, because they were married. That's why they had that little bit of a fight with one another at Barrow Creek. It wasn't the fault of the Aboriginal people. That's what the old people used to tell me ... They took our wives away. That's why we had to fight them ... "

" After that (the Barrow Creek massacre) they went somewhere else. They went to that soakage ... just west of Barrow Creek. It's called Tharlewane ... and these old white fellas kept after the people - trying to shoot them ... "

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