Drysdale River Station

[5] The area was initially taken up in 1882 by the Victorian Squatting Company, and the Drysdale River was named by explorer Charles Burrowes in 1886.

Burrowes had been sent by the company to survey it and compile a report, wrote a glowing account of the country and prophesied a great future for it.

[6] Captain Joe Bradshaw took up the lease in 1891 as part of a large area extending along the Prince Regent River.

[7] He sent his steamer, Red Gauntlet, ahead of him with Aeneas Gunn to construct stockyards while Bradshaw began to drove his herd overland from Queensland.

Bradshaw was met at the border by a party of policemen who demanded a tax of 1 pound per head to bring them into Western Australia.