{{Short description|River in Victoria, Australia}} [[File:Bendigo Creek ST Gill.jpg|thumb|Bendigo Creek in August 1852 by the artist S.T. Gill. Gold was officially discovered at Bendigo Creek in October 1851.]] '''Bendigo Creek''' is a seasonal [[stream]], or [[Stream|creek]], in [[North Central Victoria]], [[Australia]]. The [[Bendigo|city of Bendigo]] is named for the creek and [[Bendigo Valley|valley]] in which it was founded in 1851. [[Gold]] was officially discovered on Bendigo Creek in late October 1851, transforming the area in less than a year from a secluded bushland to a scene which "beggared description"<ref>Cusack, Frank (1973). Bendigo: a history (p. 35)</ref> as tens of thousands of men, women and children came to the area during the [[Australian gold rushes#September 1851: Bendigo, Victoria|gold rush]] at Bendigo Creek in 1852.<ref>Cusack, Frank (1973). Bendigo: a history (pp. 23-35)</ref>

==Location and features== [[File:Veiw of the Bendigo, Rosalind Park, Bendigo, Victoria Australia.jpg|thumb|right|View of Bendigo Creek as it runs through [[Rosalind Park]]]] The creek rises in the Big Hill range south-west of the [[Bendigo|city of Bendigo]] near the Crusoe Reservoir. Starting at an elevation of 287 metres, the creek almost immediately flows through the Crusoe Reservoir at 286 metres and then forms a geographic spine through Bendigo's CBD either past or under many of the city's landmarks including the [[Alexandra Fountain]] at [[Charing Cross (Bendigo)|Charing Cross]], [[Rosalind Park]], [[Lake Weeroona]] and the Bendigo Botanic Gardens. The Bendigo Creek Trail, for walkers and cyclists, follows the creek's course north-east from the Crusoe Reservoir past natural bush and historic landmarks to the [[Bendigo Pottery]] in Epsom.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bendigo.vic.gov.au/Things-To-Do/natural-reserves/bendigo-creek|title = Bendigo Creek &#124; City of Greater Bendigo}}</ref>

The creek descends nearly 200 metres over its 153-kilometre course before joining Mount Hope Creek, northeast of [[Mitiamo]], at an elevation of 87.3 metres. Myers Creek, Reedy Creek and Piccaninny Creek flow into Bendigo Creek.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bonzle.com/c/a?a=p&p=207302&cmd=sp&c=1&x=144%2E478285&y=%2D36%2E497745&w=3172&mpsec=0|title=Map of Bendigo Creek in Victoria - Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia}}</ref>

Over many millennia, the flow of the Bendigo Creek formed the [[Bendigo Valley]], the site of the present city of Bendigo.

==History== The first European settlers, who arrived in 1837 after the survey of the area in 1836 by Major Sir [[Thomas Mitchell (explorer)|Thomas Mitchell]], used the [[Bendigo Valley]] for their working [[Ox|bullock]]s as the valley was "wide, gentle, well-grassed and secluded".<ref>Cusack, Frank (1973). Bendigo: a history (p. 13)</ref> Later the settlers brought [[sheep]] to the creek valley, making it an outstation of the [[Mount Alexander]] North [[Pastoral lease|pastoral run]] and building a hut on the creek in the valley. The creek was just within the north-eastern boundary of the Mount Alexander North pastoral run.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article88546644 |title=The Bendigo Advertiser |newspaper=[[Bendigo Advertiser]] |volume=XXXV |issue=10,156 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=21 March 1888 |access-date=26 June 2020 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>Cusack, Frank (1973). Bendigo: a history (p. 13)</ref> The location on Bendigo Creek where gold was alleged to have been first discovered in October 1851 was a short distance from that shepherd's hut.<ref>Cusack, Frank (1973). Bendigo: a history (p. 23)</ref> [[File:Charing Cross Bendigo 1853.jpg|thumb|A watercolour painting by an unknown 19th-century artist of Bendigo Creek as it flows near McPherson's Store in Bendigo in 1853, the present location of [[Charing Cross (Bendigo)|Charing Cross]] and the [[Alexandra Fountain]].]]

==Etymology== The occupants of the Mount Alexander North run, later called the [[Ravenswood, Victoria|Ravenswood]] run,<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Bendigo Independent (Vic. : 1891 - 1918) - 10 Apr 1917 - p2|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page24429707|access-date=2020-06-26|website=Trove|language=en}}</ref> named the creek "Bendigo' Creek", originally spelled "Bednego Creek" after a local bullock driver and employee of the Mount Alexander North run. Although the bullock driver's actual name remains unknown, he "was handy with his fists"<ref>Cusack, Frank (1973). Bendigo: a history (p. 67)</ref> and was consequently nicknamed for the English bare-knuckle prizefighter [[William Thompson (boxer)|William Abednego "Bendigo" Thompson]] (1811-1880) who was then at the height of his fame. The word "Bendigo" is a corruption of the name "Abednego" in its shortened form, "Bednego".<ref>Cusack, Frank (1973). Bendigo: a history (p. 67)</ref> Bendigo Thompson was a famously agile boxer who initially earned the nickname "Bendy" because of his constant bobbing and weaving around the ring. His nickname evolved: "Bendy" in combination with his middle name, Abednego, became "Bendigo".<ref name=WBT>{{Cite web|url=https://nottinghamhiddenhistoryteam.wordpress.com/2016/02/09/william-bendigo-thompson/|title=William "Bendigo" Thompson|date=9 February 2016}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

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{{Rivers of the North-Central catchment of the Murray-Darling basin}} {{Rivers of Victoria}} {{Rivers of the Murray–Darling basin |state=collapsed}}

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[[Category:North-Central catchment]] [[Category:Rivers of Loddon Mallee (region)]] [[Category:Geography of Bendigo]]