And All So Far From Home....
Wiluna
Western Australia
The gold mining town of Wiluna is located in the Murchison Goldfield, 947 km north east of Perth and 182 km east of Meekatharra. The area was first discovered by the explorer L A Wells in 1892, and in his report Wells reported seeing promising auriferous country in the area. Gold was discovered at nearby Lake Way in 1896, and within months there were over 300 diggers in the area. The government soon decided to survey and gazette a townsite, the Mining Warden for the area suggesting it be called "Weeloona" which he advised was "the native name of the place". The spelling was amended by the Department of Lands & Surveys according to rules it had adopted for spelling Aboriginal names, and it was gazetted as Wiluna townsite in 1898. The generally accepted meaning is "place of winds", although Katherine Prichard's book, "Golden Miles" suggests that the name was derived from the cry of the curlew. The area was also locally known as "Lake Way" after the nearby lake for a time.
Further information can be obtained from
The Wiluna Gold Mine and town taken when it was a booming place in the 1930's
Books of interest................
"Wiluna - Edge of the Desert"
By P.R. Heydon O.A.M.
Published by Hesperian Press 1996
lots of pictures and indexed
ISBN 0 85905 216 8
CANNING STOCK ROUTE
"The Beckoning West" by Eleanor Smith
The story of H.S. Trotman & the Canning Stock Route
Pictures and indexed
First published 1966
Published by Hesperian Press 1998
ISBN 08 5905 251 6
"Canning Stock Route"
by Ronele & Eric Gard
A Travellers guide for a journey through history
pictures, maps and indexed
Published Wester Desert Guide 1990
ISBN 0 7316 4433 6
