Description
Some time in the middle of 1864 violent confrontations between colonists and local Ngarla people took place on the newly established De Grey Station in the Pilbara.
In 1864 it was reported that, 'The De Grey natives had made a most determined attack
upon Mr. Nairn and his men, but were repulsed, and so severely punished as will probably teach them not to meddle with white men for some years to come' (The Perth Gazette and Independent Journal of Politics and News, Fri 12 Aug 1864, p 2).
More detail was reported later in 1886:
'At length, when all suspicion of hostility on the part of the blacks had died out, their savage instincts asserted themselves, and they concocted a plot, diabolical in its ingenuity, for destroying the whole of the white men. They decided to await the arrival of the Mystery with supplies, and when the latter had been landed and stored, it was arranged to have a grand corroboree to which all the white men would be invited, and when the latter were ail gathered close around, a large yamena (Dugong) net was to be drawn around them after which they could be speared without difficulty, the natives naturally concluding that the white victims
would come unarmed. Like many other well laid-plans, the diabolical scheme failed owing to being imperfectly carried out. On the evening in question Mr.
Nairn whilst sitting in his verandah after tea enjoying a pipe, was invited by two lusty blacks, to come over to the camp -- only about 200 yards off, where about 100
natives were congregated -- to see a corroboree. The other whites were also invited, but the latter not being quite ready the manager started away with the
two decoys, without the slightest suspicion of foul play. As they passed over the crest of a slight ridge between the house and camp the miscreants, evidently, wishing to have the honor of shedding first blood, turned upon Mr. Nairn and knocked him down, their accomplices rushing up with clubs to finish him. ln the meantime, a young man named Conway, who stood in the verandah watching the departure of Mr. Nairn and the two blacks, saw that something was wrong, so he called out to the men to arm themselves, and, seizing a revolver, rushed to the rescue of his chief, firing a shot from the revolver as he ran. This report startled the natives and gave Mr. Nairn a chance to get to his legs, when he ran towards Conway and seized the revolver, which, to his chagrin, would not go off again owing to the tumbler getting locked. However, by this time the other white men had reached the spot, and the blacks seeing that their plot had failed suddenly dispersed, leaving most of their newly formed clubs on the ground. As might be supposed, the little band, who had so narrowly escaped death, passed a sleepless night, and when day broke horses were saddled, and a party started on the tracks of the would-be murderers, whom they came upon about midday and
taught a lesson that they have never forgotten' (Western Mail, 6 March 1886, p13).
Smith's (2020) research on this massacre cites directly or indirectly:
Pietro Ferrara, letter to The West Australian, 16 November 1892;
The Western Mail, 6 March 1886;
The Inquirer, August 1864;
Nairn 1986, p 44;
Austen 1998, pp 49-50; and
Charles Nairn, diary, cited in Nairn 1980.
No precise numbers of those killed are given in the sources, apart from Pietro Ferrara's estimate of up to forty killed in his time at De Grey Station over the years 1863 to 1866. The estimate of ten killed in this massacre is based on what is implied by the various accounts.
