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Stuart
Memorial - to see Darwin's early history is the Stuart
Memorial on the corner of Mitchell Street and Knuckley
Street. Darwin has a memorial celebrating the remarkable
achievements of John McDouall Stuart. Although he was
not the first person to cross Australia from south to
north. Stuart was the first to make the journey successfully
(that 'honour' belongs to the inglorious expeditions
of Burke and Wills who reached the mangrove swamps of
the Gulf of Carpentaria on 11 February 1861).
John
McDouall Stuart started his journey on 26 October 1861
from Adelaide and reached the coast 65 km east of the
Adelaide River (Adelaide River is app. 100klm south
of Darwin today) - close to the site of modern day Darwin.
Stuart's
route was more than an adventure and daring exploration.
Within the next decade the route had become the means
by which the whole of the Northern Territory was opened
up because it was used as the basis for the construction
of the Overland Telegraph which established communities
around the repeater stations at Darwin, Yam Creek, Katherine,
Daly Waters, Powell Creek, Tennant Creek, Barrow Creek,
Alice Springs and Charlotte Waters. Today, with minor
variations, Stuart's route is still the major artery
for transport through the Territory. It is appropriately
known as the Stuart Highway.
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