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The Canning Stock Route is a track that runs from Halls Creek in the Kimberley region of Western Australia to Wiluna in the mid-west region. With a total distance of around 1,850 km (1,150 mi) it is the longest historic stock route in the world. The stock route was proposed as a way of breaking a monopoly that west Kimberley cattlemen had on the beef trade at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1906, the Government of Western Australia appointed Alfred Canning to survey the route. When the survey party returned to Perth, Canning's treatment of Aboriginal guides came under scrutiny leading to a Royal Commission. Canning had been organising Aboriginal hunts to show the explorer where the waterholes were. Despite condemning Canning's methods, the Royal Commission, after the Lord Mayor of Perth, Alexander Forrest had appeared as a witness for Canning, exonerated Canning and his men of all charges. The cook who made the complaints was dismissed and Canning was sent back to finish the job. Canning was appointed to lead a construction party and between March 1908 and April 1910, 48 wells were completed along the route. Commercial droving began in 1910, but the stock route did not prove popular and was rarely used for the next twenty years. The wells made it difficult for Aboriginal people to access water and in reprisal they vandalised or dismantled many of the wells. A 1928 Royal Commission into the price of beef in Western Australia led to the repair of the wells and the re-opening of the stock route. Around 20 droves took place between 1931 and 1959 when the final droving run was completed. The Canning Stock Route is now a popular but challenging four-wheel drive adventure. On rare occasions, people have traversed the track on foot, by bicycle, and in two-wheel drive vehicles. The building of the stock route impacted on the cultural and social life of the more than 15 Aboriginal language groups and today the Aboriginal history of the track, recorded through oral and artistic traditions, is increasingly being recognised. ==History== In Western Australia at the beginning of the 20th century, east Kimberley cattlemen were looking for a way to traverse the western deserts of Australia with their cattle as a way to break a west Kimberley monopoly that controlled the supply of beef to Perth and the goldfields in the south of the state. East Kimberley cattle were infested with Boophilus ticks infected with a malaria-like parasitic disease called Babesiosis and were prohibited from being transported to southern markets by sea due to a fear that the ticks would survive the journey and spread.〔(History of the Canning Stock Route: Diamantina Touring Company )〕 This gave west Kimberley cattlemen a monopoly on the beef trade and resulted in high prices.〔(Of mining and meat: The story of the Canning Stock Route ), National Museum of Australia. Retrieved 4 June 201.1〕 With east Kimberley cattlemen keen to find a way to get their cattle to market, and the Government of Western Australia keen for competition to bring prices down, a 1905 proposal of a stock route through the desert was taken seriously. James Isdell, an east Kimberley pastoralist and member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, proposed the stock route arguing that ticks would not survive in the dry desert climate on the trip south.〔Gard, Ronele, & Gard, Eric. ''Canning Stock Route: a traveller's guide'', Western Desert Guides, Wembly Downs, W.A, 2004: pp. 41-44.〕〔Stanton, Jenny (editor). ''The Australian Geographic Book of the Canning Stock Route'', Australian Geographic Pty Ltd, Terry Hills, NSW, 1998 (revised edition): ISBN 1-86276-800-5.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Canning Stock Route」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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