La Grange expedition

[1] The three men were eventually found dead, having been speared and clubbed to death by Aboriginal Australians, some apparently in their sleep.

Between six and twenty Aboriginal Australians were subsequently killed by members of the expedition in a controversial protracted fight that is often now referred to as the La Grange Massacre.

In 1864, an expedition was organised to investigate the story of a convict named Henry Wildman, who claimed to have found gold near Camden Harbour.

In November 1864, three settlers, Frederick Panter, James Harding and William Goldwyer, set out from the settlement to explore the land around La Grange Bay.

When news of the missing men reached the Government of Western Australia in Perth, a search party was organised, with Maitland Brown appointed leader.

A boat, Clarence Packet, was chartered, and the party, led by Maitland Brown and including David Francisco and Lockier Burges, left Fremantle on 16 February 1865.

These again corroborated Dutchmanchum's story, and one of them, Lear-a-ban, stated that some of the persons involved in the killings were camped near Cape Latouche Treville.

Eventually, Karimba was sent on board ship, and two other Aboriginal persons, who were thought most likely to have been involved in the killings, were brought on shore to act as guides.

It was the largest ever seen in Western Australia; the funeral train consisted of some 750 people, and thousands of spectators lined the streets on the way to the East Perth Cemetery, where the men were buried.

Maitland Brown returned home to public acclaim, both for successfully finding the men, and for avenging their deaths.