{{Short description|Pastoral lease in South Australia}} {{Use Australian English|date=May 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}} {{Location map|South Australia|label=Cowarie Station |position=top |lat_deg=27.70203|lat_dir=S |lon_deg=138.33585|lon_dir=E |caption=Location in South Australia}}
'''Cowarie Station''', most commonly known as '''Cowarie''', is a [[pastoral lease]] that operates as a [[cattle station]] in north east [[South Australia]].
The property is located {{convert|216|km|mi|0}} north of [[Marree, South Australia|Marree]] and {{convert|225|km|mi|0}} south west of [[Birdsville, Queensland|Birdsville]]. The [[Diamantina River]] merges with the Mulligan River on Cowarie forming the [[Warburton River]] which continues to flow to the south west and into [[Lake Eyre]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/eserv/UQ:207889/s18378366_1940_3_2_100.pdf|title=The South West corner of Queensland|author=S.E. Pearson|date=27 August 1937|accessdate=26 May 2013|publisher=[[University of Queensland]]}}</ref>
==History== The lease was initially granted for 21 years to William Benjamin Rounsevell starting on the last day of 1875, covering an area of {{convert|400|sqmi|km2|0}} and named Cowarie after a nearby hill. The name is [[Indigenous Australian|Aboriginal]] in origin and is the name for [[marsupial]] rat common to the area.<ref name="FRR">{{cite web|url=http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/cowarie.htm|title=Flinders Ranges Research – Cowarie Station|year=2012|accessdate=26 May 2013|publisher=Flinders Ranges Research}}</ref> Many other leases in the area were also soon taken up leading to much greater traffic along the Birdsville track and a [[post office]] opened at Cowarie in 1877.<ref name="FRR"/>
[[Sidney Kidman]] in partnership with his brother Sackville acquired Cowarie in 1895, the first property acquired by the Kidmans who went on to build the largest cattle empire seen in Australia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.samemory.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=538&c=2429 |title=SA Memory – Kidman, Sidney 1857-1935 |accessdate=26 May 2013 |date=10 April 2007 |publisher=[[Government of South Australia]] |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409112905/http://www.samemory.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=538&c=2429 |archivedate=9 April 2014 }}</ref>
The station was managed by Sharon Oldfield in 1999 and occupied an area of {{convert|3937|km2|sqmi|0}}. The same year Oldfield won the commonwealth Bank Ibis award for rural productivity in recognition of her work with wildlife management and conservation on the property.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lakeeyrebasin.org.au/archive/pages/page37.html|title=Lake Eyre Basin – Archived Newsletters|year=1999|accessdate=27 May 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130419080708/http://www.lakeeyrebasin.org.au/archive/pages/page37.html|archivedate=19 April 2013}}</ref>
In 2009 the station was running a mixture of [[shorthorn]] and [[Santa Gertrudis cattle]] which benefitted from the floodwaters flowing down the Diamantina River that reached the station that year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stockjournal.com.au/news/agriculture/livestock/cattle-beef/ambassador-shines-for-sa-at-rocky-expo/1514400.aspx|title=Ambassador shines for SA at Rocky expo|date=18 May 2009|accessdate=26 May 2013|work=Stock Journal|author=Catherine Miller|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20130627220805/http://www.stockjournal.com.au/news/agriculture/livestock/cattle-beef/ambassador-shines-for-sa-at-rocky-expo/1514400.aspx|archivedate=27 June 2013}}</ref>
==Mirra Mitta Bore== The bore was sunk in 1903 as part of the [[Government of South Australia|governments]] plan to sink bores along the Birdsville-Marree stock route in order to provide a permanent water supply. The bore is over {{convert|1000|m|ft|0}} deep and is popular stopping place along the [[Birdsville Track]]. The bore site consists of a horizontal pipe from the head of a bore, discharging hot [[artesian water]] in a circular pond about {{convert|5|m|ft|0}} in diameter. The waters then flow along a bore drain.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.docstoc.com/docs/71002620/Heritage-of-the-Birdsville-and-Strzelecki-Tracks|title=Heritage of the Birdsville and Strzelecki Tracks|year=2000|accessdate=26 May 2013|publisher=Historical Research Pty Ltd}}</ref>
==See also== *[[List of ranches and stations]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Stations of Sidney Kidman}} {{Stations of South Australia}} {{Coord|27.70203|S|138.33585|E|type:landmark_region:AU-SA|display=title}}
[[Category:Stations in South Australia]] [[Category:Far North (South Australia)]] [[Category:1875 establishments in Australia]]