Boab Prison Tree, Derby

In his 1916 expedition to the Kimberley region, Basedow photographed it and captioned the image as "the hollow trunk of a live Boab used by the aborigines as hut and burial place, Mayhall's well, King Sound".

He found bleached human bones lying on the floor, which suggests that Aboriginal people had also used the tree as an ossuary for the dead.

[4] Kristyn Harman and Elizabeth Grant[5] traced the prison tree myth back to 1948.

Around that time, an Australian artist called Vlase Zanalis spent eight months camping in and around Derby.

In recent years a fence was erected around the tree to protect it from too much human traffic, carving of initials etc., and compacting of surrounding soil by vehicles.17°21′03″S 123°40′12″E / 17.3507°S 123.6699°E / -17.3507; 123.6699