[2] The Central Arrernte people have lived on Undoolya Station and the surrounding region for thousands of years.
Undoolya Station was established by South Australian pastoralist and stock agent Edward Mead Bagot.
His friend Joseph Gilbert also applied for two blocks, closer to where Owen Springs Station is today.
It is considered to be one of the great droving feats in Australia history, during which they met Charles Todd returning from his first inspection of the southern end of the Overland Telegraph Line, as well as well-known explorers Ernest Giles, Peter Warburton and William Gosse.
[4] Stuart Traynor says that:[1] The men had no concept of Aboriginal spirituality or any inkling that what they had done was akin to taking livestock inside a cathedral.Undoolya was purchased by William Hayes and his wife Mary in 1906.
[7] Despite challenging climatic conditions, Ted doubled the capacity of Undoolya over the last 30 years of his life, leaving the station to his wife and sons.
[9] Rocky Hill was granted an increased water extraction license in 2015,[10] causing concern among some local residents and environmental groups.