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History and Heritage
Up one levelDevelopment of the route
In 1906, the Western Australian Government appointed surveyor Alfred Canning to survey an overland stock route from Halls Creek in the Kimberley to the rail head at Wiluna to bring cattle to growing markets in the south west of the State.
Indigenous history
It is important to recognise the linkage between this European development and the traditional owners. The Canning Stock Route traverses the land that was, and remains, home to Indigenous communities.
A modern-day adventure
No longer viable as a stock route, the Canning Stock Route was reduced to a dotted line on maps and was at risk of being lost forever.
Who was Alfred Canning?
Alfred Wernam Canning was born on 21 February 1860 at Campbellfield north of Melbourne. He started work in New South Wales as a cadet surveyor and in 1893 joined the Western Australian Department of Lands and Survey.
