Cattle stations

In Australia, a cattle station is a large farm (station, the equivalent of an American ranch), whose main activity is the rearing of cattle; the owner of a cattle station is called a . The largest cattle station in the world is Anna Creek Station in South Australia, Australia.

Each station has a homestead where the manager or property owner lives. Nearby cottages or staff quarters provide housing for the employees, storage sheds and cattle yards are also sited here. Other structures depend on the size and location of the station. The isolated stations will have a mechanic's workshop, schoolroom, a small general store to supply essentials and possibly an entertainment or bar area for the owners and staff. Water may be supplied from a river, bores or dams in conjunction with rainwater tanks. Electricity is nowadays typically provided with a generator if rural power is not connected, but solar electricity systems have become increasingly common.

Children were originally educated by correspondence lessons supervised by a governess and by the School of the Air, with most children in remote areas going to boarding school for their secondary education. The Royal Flying Doctor service is available to most northern and western remote stations.

Charles Brown Fisher and Maurice Lyons, a Melbourne magistrate stocked Victoria River Downs in the early 1880s. Drover, Nathaniel Buchanan (1826–1901), overlanded 20,000 head of cattle from Wilmot to Victoria River Downs in c.1881 to establish their cattle venture. Previously Nat had from 1860 to 1867, stocked and managed Bowen Downs Station near Longreach, Queensland. Buchanan was associated with the opening up and stocking of several cattle stations in the Victoria River district and the Ord River region. The Gordon brothers and Nathaniel Buchanan took up Wave Hill on the Victoria River in 1883, one of the first cattle stations established west of the Telegraph Line. Their nearest neighbour was 200 miles (322 km) away.

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