Fitzroy River (Western Australia)

Fitzroy River
Fitzroy River, looking north from bridge at Fitzroy Crossing
Country	Australia
Basin features
Main source	King Leopold Ranges 486 metres (1,594 ft)
River mouth	King Sound
Basin size	93,829 square kilometres (36,228 sq mi)
Physical characteristics
Length	733 kilometres (455 mi)
Discharge	Average rate: 84.78 cubic metres per second (2,994 cu ft/s)

The Fitzroy River is located in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia. Also known to the native Aboriginal people as Raparapa. Raparapa also translates to 'alongside the river' in the local language of Nyikina (Kimberley Region).

The first people to discover the river were the traditional owners of the areas around the river, including the Nyikina peoples to the west, the Walmadjari and Konejandi peoples to the east, who have lived in the area for at least 40,000 years. The local peoples know the area as Mardoowarra, the river and its vast floodplains are of great spiritual, cultural, medicinal and ecological significance.

The first European to visit the Fitzroy River was George Grey in 1837 aboard the H.M.S. Beagle. The river was subsequently given its European name by Lieutenant J.L. Stokes in February 1838 after Captain Robert FitzRoy R.N. The Fitzroy River flows for 733 kilometres (455 mi) from the King Leopold and Mueller Ranges into King Sound south of Derby, and has a catchment area of 93,829 square kilometres (36,228 sq mi)

The first settlement that appeared along the river was Yeeda Station settled in 1880. The initial owners of the station were the Murray Squatting Company composed of William Paterson, George Paterson, Hamlet Cornish and Alexander Richardson. The company took up the property in the newly opened West Kimberley in 1880 and established the station with both cattle and sheep.

Other stations were established along the river further upstream during the 1880s including Noonkanbah Station, Gogo Station, Fossil Downs Station, Liveringa and Lower Liveringa Station.