Cooper Creek [SEP] continent
Cooper Creek
The Cooper Creek (formerly Cooper's Creek) is one of the most famous rivers in Australia because it was the site of the death of the explorers Burke and Wills in 1861. It is sometimes known as the Barcoo River from one of its tributaries and is one of three major Queensland river systems that flow into the Lake Eyre basin. The flow of the creek depends on monsoonal rains falling months earlier and many hundreds of kilometres away in eastern Queensland. At in length it is the second longest inland river
explorer Matthew Flinders. Stokes charted and surveyed the estuary of the Flinders and Albert rivers, and named many other features in the area, including Disaster Inlet, Morning Inlet and the Van Diemen River.
Robert O'Hara Burke, William John Wills and Charles Gray reached the river delta in 1861, completing the goal of their expedition to cross the continent from south to north. Gray died on the journey back to Cooper Creek, and both Burke and Wills died after reaching the creek to find their depot abandoned.
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