01/10/2026
A long but important & interesting read about Cameron Corner..
Yesterday, 30th September 1880, John Cameron reached ‘Cameron Corner’ and marked the Tri state intersection.
146 years ago.
The entire NSW–Queensland border survey wasn’t finished then. Cameron returned east and completed the remaining section, with the overall survey completed in 1881.
The original wooden post can still be viewed today in the Tibooburra National Parks museum.
Cameron’s own report gives a surprisingly vivid picture of what the expedition was like.
What the horses were doing
The horses weren’t just transportation. They were essentially the engine of the whole survey party. They hauled the drays, tanks, surveying equipment, food and water.
When George Chale Watson withdrew at about the 100-mile mark because of the waterless country ahead, Cameron decided to continue. He obtained six additional horses and two more for his own camp, and eventually had 14 horses specifically involved in carting water.
At one stage Cameron had to send horses 90 miles toward Bulloo Downs, the nearest known water. He took four men, a dray, a tank and a buggy and went ahead to try to establish a route to water.
Crossing the flooded country
It wasn’t all drought. Early in the journey, the Irarah, Cuttaburra and Warrego Rivers were flooded. The Irarah was about a mile wide and the Warrego about 20 chains wide.
The men actually built boats themselves. One was made from planks and another from canvas stretched over a frame. Cameron said the canvas boat was particularly useful—they used it to ferry eight tons of equipment in one afternoon.
At the Paroo River the men had to cut the survey line through water that was waist-deep for more than a mile.
Then came the terrible lack of water
Between the Paroo and Bulloo, Cameron and an Aboriginal man spent three days searching for water and couldn’t find any within 25 miles of the survey line.
Later, Cameron and his men travelled 190 miles exploring for water and found only a small amount of water left in claypans after rain. They had to drain it into little tanks before it evaporated. At one stage they had to cart water 53 miles.
And this is the extraordinary part: Cameron continued the survey knowing there was no water between Wahpah Creek and the South Australian border.
The men became seriously sick
The conditions eventually became so bad that Cameron’s workforce almost disappeared through illness.
One man, Lindsay, became seriously ill with scurvy and had to be carried on a stretcher. Cameron sent him approximately 150 miles toward Yancannia, the nearest place from which he could reach the Wilcannia Hospital.
Then Cameron’s assistant, C. V. Brown, and chainman Bryant also became sick. Cameron wrote that four others, including himself, were barely able to move.
So Cameron ended up doing practically everything—chaining the survey, running the line, making astronomical observations at night, helping cart water and moving the camp.
And then he kept going
Despite all of this, Cameron continued west until he reached the South Australian boundary on 30 September 1880. The original corner marker was a wooden post, because they couldn’t find suitable stone there.
One fascinating detail: a local man named Jeremiah Baker is reputed to have helped Cameron erect that first corner post.
this was probably the most dramatic episode involving Cameron’s horses…
At about the 235-mile mark, the survey party was travelling through exceptionally dry country. The teamster and an Aboriginal stockman had gone ahead with the horses looking for a waterhole. They travelled about 90 miles but couldn’t find water, and eventually brought the horses back to camp. Cameron recorded that they nearly lost all 32 horses in one night.
Cameron had about 100 gallons of water at the camp. He used half of it—50 gallons—for the 32 horses, giving them water mixed with a little oatmeal. This was enough to enable the exhausted animals to continue on to Warri Warri Creek, where they could finally get water.
But the horses were in such poor condition that Cameron couldn’t simply continue. He had to give them a week’s rest to recover. He also used the strongest horses to cart water 22 miles back to the camp.
And amazingly, there was still another 50 miles of country to deal with. Cameron himself rode his private horse about 50 miles searching for water and eventually found a little by digging in the sand.
What makes it even more remarkable
Not long afterwards, at the 250-mile post, Cameron sent one of his assistants, B. C. Boys, away to get mail and beef and find information about water. Boys became lost around the Lower Cooper Creek flats and spent three days and three nights without food or water. His horse eventually died, and Boys continued on foot carrying his saddle and mailbag until he found a cattle track.
By this stage Cameron’s party was desperately short of both people and water. Several men had become seriously ill, including with scurvy, and Cameron was personally doing surveying, astronomical observations, moving camp and helping cart water.
So those 32 horses weren’t simply tired—they were potentially only hours or days from dying, and losing them would probably have made it impossible to continue the survey.
So the story behind Cameron Corner isn’t simply that a surveyor rode out there and put a marker in the ground. Men, horses, boats, drays, water tanks and surveying equipment had to be moved hundreds of miles through alternating floods, scrub and virtually waterless country.
So when you stand at Cameron Corner today, you’re looking at the end point of a 285-mile survey through extremely harsh country that took 12 months and 15 days.
How lucky are you now, you can enjoy a feed, cold drink and comfortable rest at the Corner.
