Myall Creek massacre: Twenty-eight Aboriginal Australians are murdered.

The Myall Creek Massacre was a horrific event that occurred on 10 June 1838 in New South Wales, Australia, during the violent colonial expansion into Indigenous lands. A group of eleven stockmen, led by John Henry Fleming, brutally murdered at least 28 unarmed Wirrayaraay people, part of the Kamilaroi nation, who had been peacefully camped at Myall Creek Station. What makes this event particularly significant is not just the atrocity itself—tragically one among many during this era—but the fact that seven of the perpetrators were arrested, tried, and hanged, marking the first time white men were held legally accountable for massacring Aboriginal Australians. This sparked fierce debate across colonial society, with many settlers outraged at the verdict, highlighting deep-rooted racism and the disposability with which Indigenous lives were treated. The Myall Creek Massacre remains a powerful symbol of colonial violence and a turning point in Australia’s grappling with its history of frontier conflict.