The Disputed Country by Bob Dunn

The Disputed Country - Australia's Lost Border by Bob Dunn

The bizarre story of Australia's first surveyed border and the on-going dispute it created.

New copy of a book copyrighted 2004.

This story chronicles the survey of the South Australian – Victorian border from 1847 to 1850. It was an epic three-year saga of dogged persistence through heavy rain and flooded swamps, harrowing escapes from the waterless Mallee Country and the almost immediate destruction of the border markers by a devastating firestorm.

It was soon proven that the surveyed border was several kilometres from the intended 141st east longitude, thus sparking a 64 year battle between the two states for possession of the “Disputed Country” – that thin slice of land between the two lines.

The immediate loss of the border markers to fire means that today, more than a century and a half after the survey was supposed to eliminate a lawless haven for criminals, a ‘no man’s land’ still exists between the two states.

Includes the story of the border fence, a field guide to key heritage sites and detailed maps of the Border Track.