Murchison is a district in Western Australia drained by the Murchison River. The district has an irregular rainfall averaging 8 inches (20 centimeters) a year. The area consists of open shrublands with mulga and other acacias as the main trees.
The Murchison River rises in Peak Hill, in the Robinson Ranges, and flows in a general southwesterly direction through pastoral country. It enters the Indian Ocean about 110 miles (177 kilometers) north of Geraldton. The river is almost 400 miles (645 kilometers) long. The British explorer and colonial official Sir George Grey sighted and named it in 1839.
In 1857 and 1858, the British-born surveyors Augustus and Francis Gregory explored the district and considered it suitable for pastoral (grazing) purposes. The district was opened up in 1872 with the establishment of several large pastoral leases of up to 1,000,000 acres (405,000 hectares), taken on long term from the state government. The land was kept unfenced and shepherds tended the flocks. In the late 1870’s, wire fencing made shepherds unnecessary. Until 1930, the pastoral industry was profitable. Overstocking and falling wool prices cut profits in the 1970’s.
In 1888, gold was discovered in the Murchison district, and prospectors flocked to the area. A railroad line was built from Geraldton to Mullewa in 1894 and was extended to Cue when that town was established at the center of the gold fields in 1898. The gold-mining industry reached its peak about 1900 and continued to be highly profitable until the 1940’s, when it began to decline. Most towns were abandoned. Uranium was discovered at Yeelirrie in 1970. In 1971, nickel was discovered at Agnew, and a successful mining operation was established.
