Fitzroy Crossing

History

Fitzroy Crossing and the lands and valleys around it were the home for a number of Aboriginal language groups. When Fitzroy Crossing was established the main group was the Bunuba people, their land stretching from the present day Brooking Springs and Leopold Downs Station to the Oscar, Napier and Wunaamin-Miliwundi Ranges. Another group in the area stretching on the other side of the Fitzroy River from Gogo, Fossil Downs, and Louisa Downs Station, and on either side of the Margaret River, is the Gooniyandi people. The plains Aboriginal people are the Nyigina and further south are the Walmajarri, the people of the Great Sandy Desert. Other traditional owners of the area are the Njikena, Konejani, and Waladjari peoples. One of the first European explorers of the Kimberley area was Alexander Forrest and his party in 1879, following the Fitzroy River to its junction with the Margaret River at Geikie Gorge. The party then travelled east as far as Darwin. Following this exploration, around 1882, the first sheep stations were established around the mouth of the Fitzroy and the next couple of years saw the stations move out west, with Noonkanbah and Quanbun opening up in 1886. The area was finally settled in 1886 by Dan MacDonald when he set up the Fossil Downs cattle station. This was following a three-year, trek from Goulburn, New South Wales. Fitzroy Crossing received its first bridge in 1935; it was built up into a more substantial structure in 1958. However this bridge could be closed for months during the monsoonal summer. In 1974 a new bridge was built south of the crossing, which moved the focus of the settlement from its original site. In January 2023, this bridge was heavily damaged and partially collapsed after record floods. It was replaced by a larger,…

Most-observed species

• Magpie-lark

  Grallina cyanoleuca (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  122
• Black Kite

  Milvus migrans (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  118
• Peaceful Dove

  Geopelia placida Gould, 1844 · Aves
  116
• Whistling Kite

  Haliastur sphenurus (Vieillot, 1818) · Aves
  91
• Bar-shouldered Dove

  Geopelia humeralis (Temminck, 1821) · Aves
  88
• Great Bowerbird

  Chlamydera nuchalis (Jardine & Selby, 1830) · Aves
  84
• Yellow-tinted Honeyeater

  Ptilotula flavescens (Gould, 1840) · Aves
  82
• Little Friarbird

  Philemon citreogularis (Gould, 1837) · Aves
  81

Most recent

• M 4.2 — 2026-05-11
  52 km N of Fitzroy Crossing, Australia
• M 4.2 — 2023-06-21
  73 km NNW of St George Ranges, Australia
• M 3.6 — 2004-12-16
  81 km NW of Fitzroy Crossing, Australia