16. The settlement of Western Australia brought conflicts with the natives as well
In 1826, the British established a military garrison in Western Australia on the day after Christmas. They named the new post Frederick Town. The site was selected because it was strategically located on the shipping route between Port Jackson and Great Britain, and was thus of necessity to be denied to other European powers. The British troops establishing the new site were accompanied by convicts brought along to perform the necessary labor. As with so many similar circumstances, at first, the relations between the British and the native inhabitants of the region were cordial.
Soon the natives, the Noongar people, were forced from their traditional lands and food sources. They began to steal settlers’ food and stock, and the settlers in turn defended their property when it was threatened. The pattern thus established was repeated in other areas of Western Australia, and led to conflicts throughout the vast region. Fighting between natives and settlers of Western Australia was still reported in the aftermath of the First World War, in 1920. Throughout, it was marked by singular violence and the conduct of personal vendettas among both settlers and natives, particularly in the northwest region.