Burke and Wills "Plant Camp"
| Burke and Wills Plant Camp | |
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 Location of Burke and Wills Plant Camp in Queensland
Location of Burke and Wills Plant Camp in Queensland
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| Location | Near Betoota, Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia |
| Coordinates | 25°09′09″S 139°51′58″E / 25.1526°S 139.866°ECoordinates: 25°09′09″S 139°51′58″E / 25.1526°S 139.866°E |
| Design period | 1840s - 1860s (mid-19th century) |
| Official name: Burke and Wills "Plant Camp", Return Camp 46, Buke and Wills Camp R46 | |
| Type | protected area (archaeological) |
| Designated | 11 December 2008 |
| Reference no. | 645622 |
| Significant period | 1861 |
| Significant components | blazed tree/dig tree/marker tree, artefact field |
Burke and Wills Plant Camp is a heritage-listed campsite near Betoota, Shire of Diamantina, Queensland, Australia. It is also known as Return Camp 46 and Burke and Wills Camp R46. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 11 December 2008.
The Burke and Wills Plant Camp on Durrie Station is associated with explorers Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills. On the 3 April 1861, on their return trip from the Gulf of Carpentaria, the Burke and Wills expedition were approximately 100 km north of the present day Birdsville. That evening Wills made his last astronomical observations and then "planted" his instruments and associated equipment, presumably in a shallow hole, on an unnamed creek near return camp XLVI (also known Camp R46 or Plant Camp). This return trip was a desperate race to reach their depot camp number LXV - the site of the famous Dig Tree located close to the border with South Australia and near the present Nappa Merrie Homestead.
Burke, the leader of the expedition, was born in 1821 in County Galway, Ireland, of Protestant gentry. Following an education at the Woolwich Academy, the young Burke served as a lieutenant in the Austrian cavalry and later the Irish Mounted Constabulary, before emigrating to Australia in 1853. After several postings with the Victorian Police, Burke was appointed to lead the Victorian Exploring Expedition, a position he had anxiously and diligently pursued. Wills, born in Devon England in 1834, trained in medicine. He migrated to Australia in 1853 and after a short stint working as a shepherd at Deniliquin, New South Wales, Wills assisted his father with his medical practice at Ballarat, Victoria. Wills later studied surveying and astronomy, and accompanied the expedition as astronomer, surveyor, and third-in-command, behind camel master George Landells.
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