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The Battle of One Tree Hill plaque commemorates Aboriginal leader, Multuggerah (1821 - 1846) and his fight to defend his culture. The plaque was erected after a request in 2004 from the Year 4 students at Middle Ridge State School. The artwork titled Multuggerah`s Mountain was created by Donna Moodie to honour his memory.
Between 1841 and 1848, the Jaggera headman ‘Old Moppy,’ his son Multuggerah and other headmen led many raids and sieges. Their allies – the ‘Mountain tribes’ – conducted similar resistance on the Darling Downs plateau and as far as Cunningham’s Gap.
During 11 days of continual siege of all cattle runs in the valley below, a cavalcade of three heavily-loaded drays (each with several bullocks) armed with extra protection (18 men with guns) was sent up towards the Darling Downs from Ipswich. Multuggerah and over 100 warriors fenced up the road and successfully ambushed and sacked this cavalcade between Mount Tabletop and Mount Davidson, sending all 18 men fleeing. Later the same day, a force of 30-45 squatters and servants arrived to avenge the ambush, only to be driven back by a shower of spears and boulders from Multuggerah’s forces on the spur of Mount Tabletop and possibly Mount Davidson.
This was ‘the Battle of One Tree Hill.’ It was immortalized in the bush ballad ‘Raid of the Aborigines’. For the emerging Queensland squattocracy, it was a humiliating defeat of some of their most respected representatives – some of whom became major political figures. In the days that followed, a force of up to 75 squatters, servants, border police, and soldiers from the 99th Detachment undertook a 3 week pursuit of Multuggerah’s forces (now over 300 warriors), covering 20 kilometres to Rosewood Scrub. The pursuit involved skirmishes and counter-raids by both sides.
A temporary peace was negotiated. A permanent military depot was established at Helidon to regularly accompany drays up the pass to the Darling Downs. Multuggerah and his successors continued raiding drays and cattle runs, including fighting travellers near Mount Tabletop. This halted settlement in some areas. Some attacks continued as late as the 1850s and 1860s.
One Tree Hill is now known as Mount Tabletop.
Location
| Address: | Kara View Circuit, Duggan Park / Duggan Bushland, Rangeville, 4350 |
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| State: | QLD |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -27.593955 Long: 151.990367 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Plaque |
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| Monument Theme: | People |
| Sub-Theme: | Indigenous |
| Artist: | Donna Moodie (artwork) |
| Link: | http://adb.anu.edu.au/ |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Wednesday 7th December, 2005 |
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Mount Tabletop (Meewah)
Battle of One Tree Hill
You are looking across a landscape rich in unique enviroments, Aboriginal ceremonial sites and camp sites. The hills weere called "cloud catchers" by Aboriginal people, honouring the role of the escarpment in bringing water to the streams that flow east. There are Dreaming stories connecting these peaks to the unique Helidon spas. The flat-topped hill that you can see from this lookout - Meewah (Mount Tabletop, or "One Tree Hill") - is especially important as a ceremonial site.
Historically, Meewah was the setting of a famous event of early Queensland. This was the "Battle of One Tree Hill" (13 September 1843).
[ Details of Battle ]
At a request from the students in Middle Ridge Primary School in 2004 this Plaque was erected to honour the memory of Multuggerah and his brave fight to defend his culture.The artwork titled Multuggerah`s Mountain, was created by Donna Moodie to honour the memory of Multuggerah. At the centre of the artwork is Mount Tabletop.
