Gibb River Station - a short history
Fred Russ Jr
The Gibb River Station was established nearly 100 years ago in the 1920s on the land of the Ngarinyin people. The original manager was Jack Carey who was succeeded by Fred Russ Senior who had been managing the station at Mt Barnett.
The Gibb River Station ran cattle and goats and local Ngarinyin people worked for damper, salt meat, tea and tobacco which was used for currency. In the 1950s the workers began to receive a wage (one pound a week) as well as tucker which was unusual at the time in the pastoral industry.
When Fred left to live in Derby in 1971 his son, also Fred, took over management of the Station. The Russ family remained at the Station until 1981.
The Gibb River Station ran cattle and goats and local Ngarinyin people worked for damper, salt meat, tea and tobacco which was used for currency. In the 1950s the workers began to receive a wage (one pound a week) as well as tucker which was unusual at the time in the pastoral industry.
When Fred left to live in Derby in 1971 his son, also Fred, took over management of the Station. The Russ family remained at the Station until 1981.
Leading stockhorses in
In 1989 the Aboriginal Development Commission took over the lease of Gibb River Station and it was handed back to the traditional owners and the Ngallagunda Aboriginal Corporation was established to be the legal entity to hold the pastoral lease in 1980.
Alfie White, a traditional Ngarayin man became manager with James Fletcher as Head Stockman and mustering took place on a regular basis. When Alfie retired in 2004 his successor proved not to be up to the job and competent stockmen started to leave the Station. Even though there were plenty of cattle on the Station the muster numbers declined. Engaging contract musterers made matters worse with too many cattle being sold thus depleting the stock and reducing overall cattle numbers.
In 2010 the Russ family returned in the form of Clyde Russ as pastoral manager with his wife Linette in charge of the Community Store and the accommodation and tourism enterprises.
The current property is on a pastoral lease covering an area of approximately 1 million acres stretching from the Barnett River in the west to the Kalumburu Road in the east and includes most of the length of the Gibb River.
The local Aboriginal community lives at Ngallagunda on the Gibb River Station which is located on the Gibb River Road almost half way between Kununurra (350 km away to the east) and Derby (400 kms away to the west). The area is cut off from the rest of the State during the wet season due to high river levels and impassable road conditions for 3-4 months of the year.
Alfie White, a traditional Ngarayin man became manager with James Fletcher as Head Stockman and mustering took place on a regular basis. When Alfie retired in 2004 his successor proved not to be up to the job and competent stockmen started to leave the Station. Even though there were plenty of cattle on the Station the muster numbers declined. Engaging contract musterers made matters worse with too many cattle being sold thus depleting the stock and reducing overall cattle numbers.
In 2010 the Russ family returned in the form of Clyde Russ as pastoral manager with his wife Linette in charge of the Community Store and the accommodation and tourism enterprises.
The current property is on a pastoral lease covering an area of approximately 1 million acres stretching from the Barnett River in the west to the Kalumburu Road in the east and includes most of the length of the Gibb River.
The local Aboriginal community lives at Ngallagunda on the Gibb River Station which is located on the Gibb River Road almost half way between Kununurra (350 km away to the east) and Derby (400 kms away to the west). The area is cut off from the rest of the State during the wet season due to high river levels and impassable road conditions for 3-4 months of the year.
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Clyde and Linette Russ |
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Helicopter mustering at Gibb