Carl KraegenPrint Page

The monument was erected over the grave in memory of Carl Kraegen and symbolises the hardships faced by Overland Telegraph men.

During construction of the line, as the central section approached completion Kraegen was sent with five other operators to Alice Springs. They arrived at Charlotte Waters on November 30, 1871, and Kraegen left the main party at Charlotte Waters with two men, Mueller and Watson, to travel to Alice Springs. They had a sketch map showing the location of surface waters. However, on the third day they were unable to find water and spent two days in an unsuccessful search. With the situation becoming serious, Kraegen, who was the best mounted of the three, left Mueller and Watson and rode on, hoping to find water to which he could lead the others.

In Kraegen`s absence Mueller and Watson continued to search for water and with no luck killed one the horses and drank its blood, saving their lives. A few days later a linesman inspecting the line found Kraegen`s body near an angle pole about five kilometres east from what to him was a well-known waterhole called Rocky Camp. There was no wound and no sign of struggle. He had simply reached the end and died, knowing that as he was close to a pole, somebody would eventually find his body. The linesmen and the other men in his party wrapped Kraegen`s body in a blanket, dug a grave and gave him a burial. They made a headstone of wooden board and on it nailed a piece of tin in which they punctured an inscription with a nail.

In 1962, the gravesite was discovered by the son and grandson of Carl Kraegen and a headstone was erected. In 1964, the Northern Territory Government constructed a memorial at the site and incorporated the headstone into the memorial. The memorial has been included in the Northern Territory Place Names Register. 
 

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