History
The track was opened in the 1860s to bring cattle from northern Queensland and Northern Territory to the nearest railheads Port Augusta and later Marree. The pioneering drover that is credited with establishing the track was Percy Burt. Burt setup a store at Diamantina Crossing, today known as Birdsville, and used the path to bring cattle out of the Channel Country to the railhead at Maree that was completed in 1883. This stock route was more than 1000 km shorter than the alternative path to Brisbane.
By 1916 enough bores had been sunk into the Great Artesian Basin along the route, that the movement of stock was much easier and safer than in earlier years. Bores were drilled at 40 km intervals.
Over the years the Birdsville track became one of the country's most isolated and best known stock routes as well as a mail route made famous by outback legend Tom Kruse. Tom Kruse and the Track were immortalised in the 1954 documentary film made by John Heyer, The Back of Beyond. Kruse's services ceased in 1963 to be replaced by an air service from Adelaide that started in 1970.
In 2006, as part of the Year of the Outback, the Australian Governor-General, Michael Jeffery, traveled along the track in a 5-day event.
Read more about this topic: Birdsville Track
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