{{Short description|Stock route in Northern Territory, Australia}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}{{Use Australian English|date=February 2024}}
thumb|Sister Ellen Kettle vehicle while travelling on the Murranji track, 1962 thumb|Stock on Murranji Track after being dipped at Lake Nash, 1953The '''Murranji Track''' or '''Murranji Stock Route''' is a stock route in the Northern Territory of Australia and it runs between Newcastle Waters and Top Springs.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Welcome to Newcastle Waters |url=https://www.exploringaustralia.com.au/showplace/stuart/5784/newcastle-waters |access-date=2024-02-22 |website=www.exploringaustralia.com.au}}</ref> The track was primarily operational between 1904 and the late 1960s and it attracted descriptions as the "ghost road of the Drovers" and the "death track".<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Murranji Track – Boolarong Press |url=https://boolarongpress.com.au/product/the-murranji-track/ |access-date=2024-02-22 |language=en-GB}}</ref> It was used as an entry point to the Barkly Tableland and it is nearby to Wave Hill, Auvergne and Victoria River Downs Stations.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hartt |first=Haliden |date=1944-10-01 |title=Out on the Murranji |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-733676600 |access-date=2024-02-23 |work=Walkabout}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |author1=Australian Geographical Society. 124143 421c3670-a164-5721-8ebb-e16110b2ed57 |title=MURRANJI TRACK (1 June 1950) |journal=Walkabout |volume=16 |issue=6 |pages=10 |publication-date=1950-06-01 |publisher=Australian National Travel Association |issn=0043-0064}}</ref>
It is on the lands of the Mudburra and Djingili peoples and their rights to this land has been established by the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 and the Native Title Act 1993.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-09-26 |title=DCD2007/002 - Newcastle Waters - Murranji Determination |url=http://www.nntt.gov.au/searchRegApps/NativeTitleClaims/Pages/Determination_details.aspx?NNTT_Fileno=DCD2007/002 |access-date=2024-02-22 |website=Native Title Determination Details}}</ref>
Use of the track declined from 1966 when the Buchanan Highway was completed and it is now rarely used as a stock route and is now an unsealed road.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Buchanan Highway |url=https://www.ntlis.nt.gov.au/placenames/view.jsp?id=5437 |access-date=2024-02-23 |website=NT Place Names Register}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Map of Murranji Stock Route in the Northern Territory - Bonzle Digital Atlas of Australia |url=http://www.bonzle.com/c/a?a=p&p=172395&cmd=sp |access-date=2024-02-22 |website=www.bonzle.com}}</ref> It is 644 km long.<ref name=":1">{{Citation |last=O'Neill |first=Sally |title=Nathaniel (Nat) Buchanan (1826–1901) |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/buchanan-nathaniel-nat-3101 |access-date=2024-02-22 |place=Canberra |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |language=en}}</ref>
== History == The land surrounding the Murranji Track was first explored by Europeans by John McDouall Stuart who found it impenetrable<ref>{{Cite news |last=Doolan |first=Jack |date=1995-08-01 |title=Terror tales of Murranji track |work=Northern Territory News}}</ref> and it was first used as a track by pastoralist and drover Nat Buchanan in 1886 when taking cattle to The Kimberleys (Western Australia).<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite news |date=27 June 1942 |title=ADVENTURES ON THE MURRANJI TRACK |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17823208 |accessdate=22 February 2024 |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |location=New South Wales, Australia |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia |issue=32,605}}</ref> Buchanan travelled alongside Gordon Buchanan, "Greenhide" Sam Croker, Willie Glass, Archie Ferguson and Mick Berry.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last=Doolan |first=Jack |date=1987-09-20 |title=Murrinji Track, sinister, tough |work=Sunday Territorian |pages=36}}</ref> Their journey was successful as they were led through by a Mudburra guide, who showed them where to find water, and the name "Murranji" comes from the name for a species of burrowing frog in the Mudburra language.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Office of the Aboriginal Land Commissioner |date=1987 |title=Murranji land claim, PP no. 250 of 1987, Report no. 25 |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2085022190 |access-date=2024-02-22 |website=Trove |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":5" />
Use of the track was limited until, in 1904, one of Sidney Kidman's drover's, Blake Miller used it and it became a popular shortcut; despite this at least 11 drovers are known to have died along its route.<ref name=":5" />
It was notoriously difficult to transport stock on this track because of the lack of waterholes, with dry stages of up to 180 km, dense scrub (thorny lancewood and bullwaddy) and limestone soil. When moving cattle the limestone soil had the effect of making a drumming sound; this often spooked cattle.<ref name=":0" /> The main water sources were soakages named the Bucket (Wirntirrkuji), the Murranji and Yellow Waterhole (Binjacootra).<ref name=":2" /> The Bucket was named for an iron bucket left there by Buchanan.<ref name=":3">{{Citation |author1=Australian Geographical Society. 124143 421c3670-a164-5721-8ebb-e16110b2ed57 |title=ALONG THE MURRAN-JI (1 November 1949) |journal=Walkabout |volume=15 |issue=11 |pages=18 |publication-date=1949-11-01 |publisher=Australian National Travel Association |issn=0043-0064}}</ref>
Ernestine Hill wrote about the history and development of the track for Walkabout (magazine) in 1949.<ref name=":3" />
Major improvements were made to the track during World War II with government bores being built and bulldozers being used to smooth the road; writing about these improvements Hilda Abbott said "since then the cattle have walked like gentlemen through wide, scrub-bordered boulevards".<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Abbott |first=Hilda |date=1951-11-10 |title=The Murranji Stock Route |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1551739232 |access-date=2024-02-23 |work=ABC Weekly}}</ref> Abbott also said of the track more generally:<ref name=":4" />
{{Blockquote|text=Just after the "Wet" the Murranji is magic. It lies in the southern fringe of the jungle country winding through close forests of tall straight lancewoods.
Bulwaddi trees with gnarled branches and spindly dark foliage are sombre and savage looking but the bloodwoods will be in bloom, each creamy blossom holding a globule of honey.|author=Hilda Abbott|title=ABC Weekly|source=10 November 1951}}
One of the most famous trips on the Murranji Track was by Edna Zingenbine in 1950 who was the first female "Boss Drover" and made headlines throughout Australia.<ref>{{cite news |date=21 April 1950 |title=GIRL TO BOSS DROVING OUTFIT |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63463206 |accessdate=22 February 2024 |newspaper=Townsville Daily Bulletin |location=Queensland, Australia |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia |volume=LXX}}</ref> In the 1950s it was also frequently travelled by Bill Tapp who established a droving business which used it regularly.<ref>{{Citation |author1=Tapp Coutts, Toni |title=Bill Tapp : cattle king : the story about a big man with a big hat and a big heart |publication-date=2010 |publisher=Toni Tapp Coutts |isbn=978-0-646-53363-6}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=12 March 1953 |title=Killlarney convoy has slow trip |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49484550 |accessdate=29 February 2024 |newspaper=Northern Standard |location=Northern Territory, Australia |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia |volume=8 |issue=11}}</ref> It was also travelled by Ellen Kettle in 1962 as pictured above.
== Graffiti == The tanks along the Murranji Track are also home to a significant collection of graffiti, these date from the late 1930s to the 1960s and are a unique form of documentation along the track. All of these messages are faded and some have completely disappeared but many still survive. The graffiti primarily consists of messages, insults, poems, laments and drawings of the Murranji drovers. There are also a number of signatures including one by Owen Cummins the "Territory's own man from Snowy River".<ref name=":6" />
The remaining drawings were photographed and traced onto plastic sheets by archaeologist and historian Darrell Lewis.<ref name=":6" /> The graffiti have been replicated in Lewis' detailed history of the track in ''The Murranji track: ghost road of the drovers'' (2007).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Darrell Lewis – Boolarong Press |url=https://boolarongpress.com.au/our-authors/authors-l/darrell-lewis/ |access-date=2024-02-29 |language=en-GB}}</ref>
== Resources about == * Lewis, Darrell (2007). ''The Murranji track: ghost road of the drovers''. Rockhampton, QLD CQU Press.<ref name=":6">{{Citation |author1=Lewis, Darrell (Darrell J.) |title=The Murranji Track : ghost road of the drovers |publication-date=2007 |edition= |publisher=Boolarong Press |isbn=978-1-921920-23-3}}</ref> * Australia. Office of the Aboriginal Land Commissioner & Kearney, William & Australia. Department of Aboriginal Affairs & Northern Territory. Administrator & Australia. (1987). ''[http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2085022190 Murranji land claim].''<ref name=":2" />
== Notable drovers on the Track ==
* Beetaloo Jangari Bill * Nathaniel Buchanan * Sam Croker * Owen Cummins * William Linklater * Edna Zigenbine
== Coordinates == {{GeoGroup}}
* The Track begins at Murrunji, nearby the Queensland border: {{Coord|-17.009229|133.136645|name=Murranji}} * A midway point is the Murranji Bore: {{Coord|-16.836831|132.804032|name=Murranji Bore}} * It ends at Peak Knob: {{Coord|-16.67165|132.11774|name=Peak Knob}} {{maplink|type=named|from=#Coordinates}}
== References == {{reflist}}
Category:Historic trails and roads in Australia Category:Australian outback tracks Category:Roads in the Northern Territory Category:Pastoralists Category:Indigenous Australians in the Northern Territory