Interpretation

What happened at Dig Tree Reserve

In December 1860 the Burke and Wills expedition pitched camp on the bank of Cooper Creek at what is now called the Dig Tree Reserve. They called it Camp 65.

Eight men had made the trip from the previous camp at Menindee in New South Wales, where other members of the expedition remained.

At Dig Tree Reserve, the group then spilt again with four men remaining at Camp 65 while the other four trekked to the Gulf of Carpentaria and back.

Robert Burke, William Wills, Charles Gray and John King were the Gulf party.

Remaining at the Dig Tree were William Brahé, Thomas McDonough, Dost Mahomet and William Patten. Brahé was leader of the party.

After waiting months for the Gulf party to return and with Patten injured, the Dig Tree party departed on 21 April 1861 to return to Menindee.

They carved the word DIG into a tree to indicate hidden stores. Another carving recorded the arrival and departure dates. A third carving read B LXV which means Burke Camp 65.

Just nine hours after Brahé’s party departed the Gulf party returned to an empty camp. Gray had died en route. Burke, Wills and King were too tired and hungry to pursue Brahé’s party.

Blazes

There are three significant trees at the Dig Tree Reserve:

  • Dig Tree

  • Brahé’s Tree

  • Face Tree

Each of these trees was carved. The carvings are called blazes. All of the blazes have partially or fully grown over by bark. In 2020 replicas of the original blazes were installed at the Dig Tree. Visitors are allowed to touch the replicas.

Dig Tree

The Dig Tree has three blazes:

  • DEC 6 60 APR 21 61. Carved in 1860-61 by Brahé’s party to record their arrival and departure dates. This blaze is no longer visible.

  • B LXV. This means Burke Camp 65. Carved by Brahé’s party in 1860-61. This blaze is partially visible on the south-facing side of the tree.

  • AH DIG [Arrow] TO DEPOT. Carved in 1862 by Alfred Howitt’s search party who buried supplies there. AH stands for Alfred Howitt. This blaze is no longer visible.

When the first surveyors, pastoralists and settlers came to Cooper Creek in the 1870s they only saw one DIG blaze – the blaze carved on the Dig Tree by Alfred Howitt’s search party in 1862.

They mistook this for Brahe’s original DIG blaze carved on Brahé’s Tree in 1861 marking the site where he had buried a cache of provisions.

This is why the tree bearing Howitt’s Blaze became known as the Dig Tree.

Dig Tree. This blaze records the date of arrival of the Burke and Wills expedition on 6 December 1860 and departure of Brahé’s party on 21 April 1861.

John Oxley Library State Library of Queensland neg. no. 42815

Brahé’s Tree

Brahé’s Tree has one blaze:

  • DIG. It was carved by Brahé’s party in 1861. It may have included further carvings but there is no agreed record. This blaze is no longer visible.

This blaze was the one carved to leave a message for Burke and his party on their return from the Gulf.

Brahé’s Tree. DIG is the message read by Burke, Wills and King when they returned to the camp.

Artist’s impression by David Renn.

Face Tree

Face Tree. Carved portrait of Burke by John Dick, 1898.

John Oxley Library State Library of Queensland neg. no. 73327.

Dig Tree. In 1862 Alfred Howitt’s search party buried supplies at the Dig Tree Reserve and carved the initials AH DIG with instructions where to find the store.

John Oxley Library State Library of Queensland neg. no. 42815.

Face Tree. JD stands for John Dick who carved the Face Tree and GD is his wife [Minnie] Ghyn Dick.

John Oxley Library State Library of Queensland neg. no. 146180.

Dig Tree. B LXV stands for Burke Camp 65.

Frank Clune National Library of Australia.

The Face Tree has two blazes.

  • [Face] ROHB. Carved by John Dick in 1898, this likeness of Burke has his initials standing for Robert O’Hara Burke. This blaze is partially visible.

  • [Arrow] JD.GD 21.11.98. Carved by John Dick, JD stands for John Dick and GD stands for Ghyn Dick, his wife who was known as Minnie. This is followed by the date of carving. This blaze is no longer visible.