Lake Cargelligo

History

The area now known as Lake Cargelligo lies within the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri people. The explorers, John Oxley and George Evans, followed the Lachlan River down to Lake Cargelligo in 1817. Lake Cargelligo was known as Cudgelligo (or sometimes Cudgellico) in the 1800s and was officially changed when the railway arrived in 1917. After colonial settlement, the land was taken over by settlers and the local Aboriginal population was removed from their traditional country and consolidated at other locations, under the control of the Aboriginal Protection Board. In 1907, official records showed no Aboriginal people as living at 'Cudgellico Lake'. In 1949, a population of Wiradjuri, together with Ngiyampaa and Paakantyi people—from traditional lands west of the Wiradjuri lands—totalling 240 people was relocated from Menindee to a camp at Murrin Bridge about 15 km from Lake Cargelligo. On 22 January 2026, a shooting spree occurred in the town. Three people were killed, including a pregnant woman, and another was critically injured. The suspect, Julian Ingram, fled the scene and has since been found dead by suicide on the 11th of May, 2026.

Most-observed species

• Magpie-lark

  Grallina cyanoleuca (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  1,443
• Galah

  Eolophus roseicapilla (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  1,434
• Willie-wagtail

  Rhipidura leucophrys (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  1,342
• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  1,114
• Crested Pigeon

  Ocyphaps lophotes (Temminck, 1822) · Aves
  1,022
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  984
• Gray Teal

  Anas gracilis Buller, 1869 · Aves
  976
• Australian Pelican

  Pelecanus conspicillatus Temminck, 1824 · Aves
  892

Most recent

• M 3.7 — 2005-01-18
  8 km N of West Wyalong, Australia