| Cooktown was,
for a few brief years, the second most important port in Queensland.
Situated on the coast north of Cairns it was named after Captain James Cook
and who beached the Endeavour there in order to repair it after it
had struck the Barrier Reef near Cape Tribulation. After his visit nothing
else happened until 23 June 1873 when James Venture Mulligan arrived on the
Palmer River and found gold in payable quantities. The town of Cooktown was
founded as a port to the goldfields and soon thousands of hopeful diggers
were landing there and heading off to the Palmer as fast as they could
travel. The town grew rapidly and became quite a substantial settlement
until gold gave out. When this happened it was deserted almost as it had
been founded... |
