The Dale River is a perennial river located in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. Rising on the eastern slopes of the Darling Scarp, the river flow generally east by north, joined by six major tributaries including the Dale River South, Gibb Gully, Connelly Gully, Sherlock Gully, Flint Gully and Talbot Brook. The river reaches its mouth to join the Avon River approximately west of near the Avondale Agricultural Research Station. The river descends over its course. The Dale River was named in honour of Robert Dale, the first European explorer to venture into the Darling Ranges in 1829. The Dale River has been a historically useful waterway for the Wheatbelt regions surrounding towns and cities. The Dale River’s mouth connects with the Avon River in which is 240km in length and a significant tributary from the river Dale. The Avon River in turn is a stream running from the Swan River being a significant waterway of the city of Perth. The Dale River is overall an important ecosystem of Western Australia housing native flora and fauna and additionally maintains the livelihood of surrounding towns and cities.
History
Indigenous History
The Town of Beverley is the closest settlement of the Dale River. It has been home to the Ballardong people for thousands of years.The history of the Ballardong people has been marked through rock art around the region. The Ballardong people cultivated the land for food consisting of native foods. The Noongar people are a large clan located along the South Coast of Western Australia and through the Wheatbelt region. They have been described as having a ‘sharing relationship’ and lacking an intense ‘competition for resources’. The Noongar people initially clashed with the early European settlers of the Avon River region. in 1886 an Aboriginal Protection Act was introduced as a means to uphold indigenous rights to a degree within Western Australia.
Beverley
Beverley is a small town 130km east of Perth City, Western Australia. Beverley was founded in the year of 1838. It was deemed adequate for agricultural practices by English explorer Robert Dale whom was the first European to explore the Darling Ranges of Western Australia and the individual who the Dale River was named after. The town of Beverley has been deemed an important historical agricultural town of the Wheatbelt region. The town relies on the surrounding waterways of the Dale and Avon river as a means to support its agricultural practices and human inhabitance. 6km west of Beverley is the ‘Avondale Agricultural Museum which displays historical agricultural equipment and artefacts that portray the farming past of the Wheatbelt region that is located amongst the Dale and Avon rivers. ----
