Ooldea

History

The soak, known as Yooldil Kapi to the Aboriginal peoples of the area, and Ooldea Soak to the European settlers, made it an important camp during construction of the Trans-Australian Railway. It was around this time that a severe drought led many desert people to migrate closer to the waterhole, increasing pressure on the limited water resources now largely reserved for use by trains. A centenary celebration was held at the siding in 2017. The settler town that sprung up was named Ooldea, but was also referred to as Yuldea, Youldul, Yuldeh, or Yultulyngya. The mission was visited twice by Norman Tindale and was home for many years to Daisy Bates, both concerned with understanding and protecting Aboriginal culture. A cairn commemorating Bates was designed by F. Millward Grey and erected in 1953. In the 1950s, areas around Maralinga and Emu were used for nuclear testing by the British Government. Around this time the Australian Government resumed much Anangu land to be used for the Woomera Rocket testing Range. Aboriginal people in the area, who were Pila Nguru (Spinifex people, of the Great Victoria Desert) were moved to the Ooldea Mission, which closed in 1952 due to internal divisions in the church. The people did not want to move from there, as they were used to ranging the desert, and had used the Ooldea Soak as a water source for many generations. The people were forcibly moved to a reserve established by the South Australian Government on a former sheep station at Yalata, where Yalata Mission was established by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia. This was an environment quite alien to them, being desert people. The longest dead straight section of railway line in the world starts west of Ooldea before Watson at the 797 km post and continues to a…

Most-observed species

• Buffel-grass

  Cenchrus ciliaris L. · Liliopsida
  1,219
• hairy oat grass

  Enneapogon avenaceus (Lindl.) C.E.Hubb. · Liliopsida
  2
• Pink Cockatoo

  Lophochroa leadbeateri · Aves
  2
• Pinecone Lizard

  Tiliqua rugosa (Gray, 1825) · Squamata
  1
• Galah

  Eolophus roseicapilla (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  1
• Southern Whiteface

  Aphelocephala leucopsis (Gould, 1841) · Aves
  1
• Magpie-lark

  Grallina cyanoleuca (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  1
• White-winged Fairywren

  Malurus leucopterus Dumont, 1824 · Aves
  1