Storm clouds form over Enngonia

Enngonia
Tiny village near the Queensland border
Located 100 km north of Bourke and only 40 km from the Queensland border, Enngonia is one of those towns which has seen better days. Once the poor cousin to Barringun it now is the small centre for the surrounding area with a police station, a small school, a pub with caravan facilities, and a few houses.

The most popular explanation for the town's name is that one of the first settler's in the area was a man called Erin who built a shack for himself which was little more than a gunyah. Hence the name 'Erin's Gunyah' later corrupted to 'Enngonia'.

Like Barringun it was a centre of activity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when the properties in the area were labour intensive and when transportation was by horse and bullock. The arrival of motorised transport and labour efficient farming ensured the demise for the town.

Things to see:  

The Grave of Captain Starlight
The only point of real historical interest at Enngonia (apart from the annual races held in September, which rival the Birdsville Races in their ability to attract people from all over Australia) is that 35 km west of the town is the unmarked grave of Captain Starlight.

Born as Frank Pearson in England in 1837, he arrived in Australia in 1866. He teamed up with a Queensland bushranger named Charles Rutherford in 1868 and together they held up a group of people at Walgett, stealing money and a revolver. They then bailed up an inn at Enngonia. However, unfortunately for them, two troopers tracking the bushrangers happened to be in the pub at that moment. In the ensuing shoot-out, Pearson was hit in the shoulder and wrist and one of the constables was shot in the side, dying a month later. The two outlaws continued to rob travellers and properties as the police chase built up momentum. At Gundabooka Station, on 23 December, 1868, the police spotted Pearson, the night after the station had been robbed. His horse was shot from under him but he managed to escape into the bush. However, on Christmas Day he was found in a cave where he surrendered without resistance.

From there Pearson was taken back to Bourke where he was charged with murder and committed for trial. In May 1869 Pearson was sentenced to death, but this was commuted to life in prison with the first three years to be served in chains. However, he was released in 1884. In 1891 Pearson was convicted, in Brisbane, of two charges of forgery, serving two years. Upon his release he lived as a confidence trickster and petty criminal until he died in 1899 after mistakenly drinking potassium cyanide whilst inebriated.

Rutherford's end came in 1869 while robbing a hotel near Warren. He was shot when the publican grappled with Rutherford, causing the bushranger to accidentally discharge his weapon, with the bullet entering his jaw. He died the next day without regaining consciousness.

Rolf Boldrewood's famous novel Robbery Under Arms centred on a bushranger called Captain Starlight, although the novel's 'hero' is a composite figure, drawing largely on events in the life of cattle thief, Harry Redford (see Roma and Muttaburra in Queensland for more details).

Directions to the grave are provided on the 'Mud Map Tours' brochure available at the Bourke Tourist Information Office. Unfortunately the 'Mud Map 7 - The Lednapper Wildflowers & Midnight's Grave' tour is incorrect and locals gleefully recall a bus trip which went out to look at Starlight's Grave only to wander around for half an hour unable to locate it. The answer for those curious enough to make the trip on 35 km of dirt road is, as always, to consult the locals. The directions are "Turn west off the Mitchell Highway at the sign marked 'Yantabulla' and 'Irrara Creek'. After 35 km you cross the Irrara Creek just before Wirrawarra Station. There is a cottage on the south side of the road before you reach the southern turnoff to Wapweelah Station. To the west of the cottage is the grave. It is unmarked and distinguished only by a nearby pine tree and four pine logs lying in an oblong on the ground which mark the perimeters of the grave.

	Hotels
	Oasis Hotel Mitchell Hwy Enngonia NSW 2840 Telephone: (02) 6874 7577
	Restaurants
	Oasis Hotel Mitchell Hwy Enngonia NSW 2840 Telephone: (02) 6874 7577