survey

Early Tinnenburra blocks, 1863. The first surveys of the Warrego River were conducted a few years after European settlers crossed from the Darling River. Drafted in 1863, this map shows the boundaries of early pastoral runs. The location of town reserves, sheep yards, waterholes, blazed trees and the Queensland-New South Wales border are also shown as well as the tentative outline of watercourses. Pastoral interests were closely tied to water as blocks rarely extend more than ten miles away from creeks and rivers. In this map, three ‘Tinnenburra’ blocks line the banks of Cuttaburra Creek, an offshoot of the Warrego River. These were later taken up by James Tyson and formed one of the largest pastoral stations in the world. The name ‘Tinnenburra’ probably comes from ‘Dinnenbooroo’, the Aboriginal name for a waterhole on the Cuttaburra. While both place and name were appropriated by Europeans, its appearance alludes to an Indigenous landscape beyond what is conventionally represented by maps. Collection of the Museum of Lands, Mapping and Surveying, DERM, Brisbane