Cooktown

Cooktown became the site of the first white "settlement" when the vessel had to be repaired.  It was badly damaged when it accidentally struck the Great Barrier Reef.  Captain James Cook wrote, " …it was happy for us that a place of refuge was at hand; for we soon found that the ship would not work, and it is remarkable that in the whole course of our voyage we had seen no place that our present circumstances could have afforded us the same relief. " 

The river which the tribe called "Wahalumbaal" is known now as the Endeavour River.  Cook and his crew stayed on the river's edge for nearly seven weeks, the most they were to spend at any one location in Australia.  There they spent the time repairing their ship and locating food.

Joseph Banks, a wealthy scientist on board, after spending time collecting and documenting new species of plants, talked with the local people and recorded a number of Gugu Yimithirr words including the name of one of Australia's best known icon "gangurru" or the kangaroo.

In 1872, gold was discovered on the Palmer River, southwest of Cooktown.   Soon the Endeavour River became the supply port for the goldfields which were worked between 1873 and 1890.  During this time, over half a million ounces of gold was recorded to have been produced.  The new township established on its banks with the gold rush bringing prospectors from all over the world.  Within a few months there were over 500 tents and, by 1875, there were 65 hotels, a school, a fire brigade and two churches.  There were bakeries, a brewery and a soft drinks factory, dressmakers and milliners, brickworks, a cabinetmaker, and two newspapers.

Estimates of over 20,000 Chinese passed through Cooktown.  They came originally as prospectors.  At one time Cooktown had a separate Chinatown with around 3,000 people.  Many established market gardens, supplying the town and the goldfields with fruit and vegetables and others opened shops.

In 1881, a bridge over the Endeavour River was completed, which opened up the richer pastoral lands of the Endeavour and McIvor River valleys.  Tin was found in the Annan River area, south of Cooktown, in 1884. 

Conflict had reportedly broken out between the Aboriginal people and the new settlers.  Showing ferocity and daring whilst being unaware of the power of firearms, many Aboriginal people were wiped out as European settlement spread over the Cape.

Lutheran missionaries came to Cooktown and established on the beach at Elim in 1886.  They came to secure a place for the Aboriginal people who were at this time living on the edge of the town.  They were the predecessor of the missions at Hope Vale and Wujal Wujal.

During World War II, Cooktown became a base for numerous troops.  The airfield was busy in its role in the Battle of the Coral Sea when the Japanese movement towards Australia was stopped. 

During this time, a lot of Aboriginal people, along with the German missionaries they were living with, were moved down south to Woorabinda, near Rockhampton.  Many of these people lost their lives when moved away from their traditional lands.  Eventually some were able to come back from their exile.

With the gold rush over, two major fires striking Cooktown (in 1875 and 1919 when whole blocks of buildings in the main street were burned to the ground) and with a couple of major cyclones adding to the destruction, the town's population declined.  Recently, the population of Cooktown has gradually climbed, as it has become a popular tourist destination servicing the Great Barrier Reef and the Lakefield National Park.  It is also a major fishing attraction and the harbour provides safe anchorage for vessels.

Cooktown is a service centre for the Aboriginal communities of Hope Vale to the north, and Wujal Wujal to the south.  Located on the main street of Cooktown is Gungarde, an active Aboriginal Community Centre.  The "Milbi Wall" (or "Story Wall") marks the place of the first encounter between the British seafarers and the local Aboriginal people.