Arkaroola Village

History

The area's first people are the Adnyamathanha. One of their Dreaming or creation stories says that Arkaroo, a mythical monster, drank Lake Frome dry. He then crawled up into the mountains. When he urinated he created the waterholes that are a feature of the area. His movement over the land created Arkaroola Creek. The first Anglo-Europeans to visit the area was explorer Edward Eyre in 1840 and the surveyor George Goyder in 1857. There was a small failed settlement nearby, at the Yudnamutana copper mine, from 1860 to 1863. The drought of 1863 drove the miners away. Settlement didn't occur again until 1903, when rubies and sapphires were discovered. By 1910 a copper smelter was built at Yudnamutana and uranium was also discovered nearby by Douglas Mawson, famous Antarctic explorer. The land was always marginal for white pastoralism or agriculture and projects failed quickly. The pioneering Greenwood family were mineral prospectors and pastoralists in the area. William Bentley Greenwood was the owner of the nearby Umberatana pastoral lease in 1902, and in 1910 discovered uranium deposits at Mount Painter in the form of torbanite, identified by geologist Douglas Mawson. His son, Gordon Arthur Greenwood, took up the lease of Mount Serle after giving up the lease of Umberatana, and worked with his father at Mt Painter. As of July 1946, Bentley Greenwood, brother of Gordon, was running Arkaroola Station. Uranium exploration persisted sporadically and led to the development of good roads by optimistic companies. The Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary was established by geologist Reg Sprigg in 1968 after he purchased the pastoral lease. He had been involved in surveys in the area before that. He purchased the pastoral lease (part of which is now held as freehold In 1979 he was…

Most-observed species

• red kangaroo

  Macropus rufus (Desmarest, 1822) · Mammalia
  981
• eastern wallaroo

  Macropus robustus Gould, 1840 · Mammalia
  934
• Emu

  Dromaius novaehollandiae (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  610
• Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater

  Acanthagenys rufogularis Gould, 1838 · Aves
  191
• Little Corella

  Cacatua sanguinea Gould, 1843 · Aves
  189
• Zebra Finch

  Taeniopygia guttata (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  182
• Willie-wagtail

  Rhipidura leucophrys (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  162
• Australian Ringneck

  Barnardius zonarius (Shaw, 1805) · Aves
  149

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2007-11-19
  184 km NE of Quorn, Australia
• M 4 — 2007-01-28
  166 km E of Roxby Downs, Australia
• M 3.9 — 2006-07-27
  196 km NE of Quorn, Australia
• M 4.4 — 2005-05-14
  182 km NE of Quorn, Australia
• M 4.5 — 2005-03-03
  191 km NNE of Quorn, Australia