Burketown, Queensland

An outback township on the flat plains of the Gulf of Carpentaria, close to the Albert River near the Gulf's most southerly point. Burketown hosts the World Barramundi Fishing Championships.
Location: 418 km north of Mount Isa; 429 km North of Cloncurry via Gregory Downs; 942 km West of Cairns; 197 km East of Northern Territory Border; 15 metres above sea-level.
Origin of name: honours Robert O'Hara Burke of the Burke and Wills expedition which arrived here in 1861.
Brief history: One of the first Europeans into the area were explorers Burke and Wills, the former being the source of the town's name. They reached the coast near Normanton in 1861. Frederick Walker, who was one of the many explorers who went looking for Burke and Wills, and in so doing, he opened up the whole Gulf area. It was Walker who found Camp 119, the last Burke and Wills camp before they turned south on their return journey. Walker's grave is located 71 km south of the township on Floraville Station. Nat Buchanan was among the pastoralists to take up holdings on the Gulf. Burketown's population was decimated in 1866 by Gulf Fever (possibly yellow fever, typhoid or dengue). Most of those who did not die moved to Normanton.
Natural features: Gulf of Carpentaria; Albert River; Gregory River; Leichhardt River; Lawn Hill Gorges National Park (220 km south); Nicholson River; Adels Grove (established by French botanist Albert de Lestang in the 1930s as an experiment in the growing of tropical fruits and trees); Riversleigh Fossil Fields (55 km south-east of Adels Grove, which include huge flightless birds and other fossils dating back 20 million years; now in the Mt. Isa Riversleigh Fossils Display).
Built features: Artesian Bore; Escott Lodge (18 km west).
Heritage features: grave of Frederick Walker (71 km south); Old Boiling Down Works (1866); Post Office (1887)