Fitzroy River (Western Australia)

The Fitzroy River is located in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia. Also known to the native Aboriginal people as Raparapa. Raparapa also translates to 'alongside the river' in the local language of Nyikina (Kimberley Region).HistoryThe first people to discover the river were the traditional owners of the areas around the river, including the Nyikina peoples to the west, the Walmadjari and Konejandi peoples to the east, who have lived in the area for at least 40,000 years. The local peoples know the area as Mardoowarra, the river and its vast floodplains are of great spiritual, cultural, medicinal and ecological significance.The first European to visit the Fitzroy River was George Grey in 1837 aboard the HMS Beagle. The river was subsequently given its European name by Lieutenant J.L. Stokes in February 1838 after Captain Robert FitzRoy R.N. The Fitzroy River flows for 733km from the King Leopold and Mueller Ranges into King Sound south of Derby, and has a catchment area of 93829km2The first settlement that appeared along the river was Yeeda Station settled in 1880. The initial owners of the station were the Murray Squatting Company composed of William Paterson, George Paterson, Hamlet Cornish and Alexander Richardson. The company took up the property in the newly opened West Kimberley in 1880 and established the station with both cattle and sheep.