The mystery of Black Mountain(Kalkajaka)

I remember this story from many years ago, a tale of a strange rock formation, aboriginal spirits and people dissapearing. Black Mountain is a strange mountain to start with it is loads and loads of piled up black granite rocks. It is easy to understand how a person and cattle could walk into it and never come out. Strange sounds like moaning and loud bangs can be heard although that is probably due to rocks cracking and water flowing through the inside. It is also a place where the 'Queensland Tiger' has been sighted on occasion which is itself another mystery. Also pilots aircraft turbulence and magnetic effects over Black Mountain. Even 2 native police trackers went in to search for a person and only 1 came out.
Its an interesting story i wonder if anyone has anymore information about it, any recent news.

queensland goverment
Queensland tiger
www.castleofspirits.com...
www.angelfire.com...

Located in Queensland, Australia, 26 kilometers to the south of Cooktown lies they mysterious Black Trevethan Range, the Black Mountain. Consisting of granite jumbles of black rocks this mountain is inhabited by frogs, wallabies, gigantic pythons and a strange beast that goes by the name of the Queensland Tiger. Many walk into this collection of large black rocks, but very few ever walk out.
The mountain is certainly significant for the Aborigines. Kalkajaka is what they call it, the name meaning the place of the spear or more loosely translated as mountains of death. The Aboriginal stories of how it evolved certainly add to mystery of this incredible mountain range. The Aboriginal belief is that the mountain originated in the dreamtime with a man, being similar to a medicine man and also a chameleon, who had the taste for human flesh. He killed and ate a young chief and so was banished and fled to the mountains, occasionally surfacing to eat a human or two from his own tribe. On his last venture out of the mountains he turned into a goanna to escape his angry fellow tribe members and had the misfortune of being struck by lightening. Being no ordinary goanna he exploded and left large piles of charred rock everywhere.
One man, however, did go in and come out. Being an experienced bushman he entered the caves armed with a loaded revolver and an electric torch.
His chilling story follows. I stepped into the opening, like other Black Mountain caves it dipped steeply downwards, narrowing as it went. Suddenly I found myself facing a solid wall of rock, but the the right there was a passageway just large enough for me to enter in a stooping position. I moved along it carefully for several yards. The floor was fairly level, the walls of very smooth granite. The passage twisted and turned this way and tat, always sloping deeper into the earth. Presently I began to feel uneasy. A huge bat beat it's wings against me as it passed, however I forced myself on, to push further. Soon my nostrils were filled with a sickly musty stench. Then my torch went out. I was in total darkness. From somewhere, that seemed the bowels of the earth I could hear a faint moaning which was then followed by the flapping of wings of thousands of bats. I began to panic as I groped and floundered back the way I thought I had come. My arms and legs were bleeding from bumps with unseen rocks. My outstretched hands clawed at space, I expected solid walls and floors, but could not find it. At one stage where I had wandered into a side passage, I came to the brink of what was undoubtedly a precipice-judging by the echoes. The air was foul and I felt increasing dizziness. Terrifying thoughts were racing through my mind about giant rock-pythons I have seen around this mountain. As I crawled along, getting weaker and loosing hope of ever coming out alive, I saw a tiny streak of light. It gave me super strength to worm my way towards a small cave mouth half a mile from the one I had entered. Reaching the open air I gulped in lung fulls of it and fell down exhausted. I later found that I had been underground for five hours, most of the time on my hands and knees. A Kings ransom would not induce me to enter those caves again.
Another strange thing about the black mountains is that a creature is said to be lurking within. Described as being cat-like it has been spotted clambering over the boulders on quite a few occasions. Now dubbed the Queensland Tiger this beast is attributed to the cattle mauling and disappearances within the vicinity.

[edit on 7-6-2009 by pazcat]

Certainly a very interesting story. I have this urge to go into those mountains now. I believe it could definitely be an interesting experience but I'm surprised more people (explorers) haven't gone in there before?

Same here, it captured my imagination as a young kid and always wanted to go there. But yeah i was wondering that about why it hasnt been under more scrutiny especially now we have better technology to explore. Maybe they have im not sure, i couldnt find too much about it online. Also it came up with the added bonus of the QLD Tiger, something i am unfamiliar with.

[edit on 7-6-2009 by pazcat]

So they are a mountain range, what is the big mystery.

Is there any documentation as to the claimed missing persons & alledged circumstances?

If missing probably lost in caves.

The so called experienced person in the caves, being scared & lost only proved to be stupid & not experienced. Let his imagination run away with itself in the darkness from being disorientated. If he was "experienced", he would have had reserve batteries, a guide rope to show way back out & most importantly he should never have gone caving alone.

The aboriginal dreamtime story has to be taken with a grain of salt.

As to two aboriginal police tracker, were they both of that region. A mate of mine was trained by his grandfather who was an old aboriginal tracker. He has told me that the trackers are only good in the area/environment they were raises & taught in. For example if you took a tracker from the rainforst area & put him in the desert, he would be stuffed.

Overall the only mystery I could see was the Queensland Tiger, have to study up on that one myself

I think I heard of this on (don't laugh :@@The Bush Tucker Man. He said that a number of people went missing in this place, that it's like catacombs. People unable to find their way out of a maze. Presumably from people who have been in there with a reliable guide who found his way out

I think I heard of this on (don't laugh :@@The Bush Tucker Man. He said that a number of people went missing in this place, that it's like catacombs. People unable to find their way out of a maze. Presumably from people who have been in there with a reliable guide who found his way out

The first "recorded" disappearance was that of a carrier named Grayner who disappeared along with his horse and bullocks. 13 years later a Constable Ryan disappeared after tracking a wanted man to the base of the mountain, and neither were ever seen again. Then a gold prospector named Renn vanished and could not be found by police teams who combed the area for weeks. Harry Owens, a station owner from Oakley Creek, disappeared at the mountain while searching for stray cattle, as did his parter George Hawkins who went to search for him after alerting police. Two police trackers entered the caves but only one came out, and he was so shaken by an experience that terrified him so much that he could give no clear account of what happened.source: INFO JOURNAL, Vol.4, No.2; WALKABOUT [Sydney, Australia], June 1972; COOKTOWN AUSTRALIA; BLACK MOUNTAIN AUSTRALIA

www.bibliotecapleyades.net...

While i agree that yes these men and cattle probably did just wander in and get lost, probably fell down into a larger hole nobody has been able to clearly say what has happened. Could there be giant rock pythons?(unlikely) What about the Tiger could that of played a role? Does it even exist? Why has nobody seemingly bothered to venture back in in all these years. It is a mystery, fact is there are people missing who have never been found again and no one can come up with a solid explanation other than lost in the caves.

This all started back in 1877 thats a long time ago, anything different or unknown would of been rather scary for them. As for the experienced 'bushman' sure he could of had taken more precautions but it would seem he wasnt terribly familiar with caves maybe, ill try to find more on him if i can and the others. As to the trackers it would seem a bit irresponsible if the local police did not use local trackers, that is the way it normally works and probably even more so in the past.
The documentation seems hard to come across but ill give it a go, try and find out more about this INFO JOURNAL source from 1972, and it seems on many occasions police have been informed even back 200 years ago.

As i said before at the start, this is a story that captured my imagination as a kid, and i think Vilyriel is right about it being on the BTM years back. Im just suprised there has not been more research done about the area, maybe they have but its hard too find.
And yes the Cat thing is a bonus.

The 'I.N.F.O. JOURNAL' (box 367., Arlington, VA, 22210), a
publication devoted to 'Fortean' research, Vol. IV, No. 2 issue
The article, titled 'MOUNTAIN OF DEATH' and written by David D.
Browne, originally appeared in the June 1972 issue of WALKABOUT,
published in Sydney, Australia

"In Brisbane's Public Library, a yellowing newspaper cutting
tells some of the story:
"'Grim tragedy has been associated with the mountain ever
since it has been known to white man.
"'Three men with horses completely disappeared at the
mountain. They vanished as if the earth had opened and swallowed
them up, for absolutely no trace of them has ever been
discovered, although police and backtrackers and hundreds of
local residents scoured the mountain and surrounding country.'
"Then following the names and occupations of several others
who disappeared, and the dates of their disappearance. The
cutting continues:
"Another newspaper cutting, signed Nancy Francis, reads:
"'The formation of these mountains is unique; their
appearance grotesque. They are mountains of huge boulders full
of chasms that go down to unsounded depths. Only a few rock
wallabies and a few turkeys live near these grim, forbidding
hills. The Aborigines regard the Black Mountains with dread.'
"In the files of the Cooktown police, dating back 25 years,
there is a report made by a Sergeant of Police who discussed the
mountain with a man whom he refers to as Mac.

www.thewatcherfiles.com...

Ok so i realise that source is leaning towards subterrainian reptillian abduction and that is definately not the angle im taking, it has some things im going to try and chase up. Im going to contact the Brisbane library and see if they have any record of the supposed cuttings, as it stops just about as it starts to list the missing. And if there is any records of Nancy Francis. It seems there has been a few articles written over the years. Hopefully i can come up with something, just have to wait for a response.




[edit on 9-6-2009 by pazcat]

Very interesting... I have never heard of this mountain before or the " tigers" for that matter. The pic of the mountain reminds me of rock piles at quarries ( sp? )

It doesnt make sense to me how people get lost in these caves.... Like another poster stated, why not use a guide rope? or IDK maybe an extra flashlight/batteries. With today's tech we should be able to get a radar scan of it an be able to see the caverns. This thread make me want to go explore it.

Ok so while i am waiting for a response from the State library of Queensland a couple more things to add, dont have any vids yet to put up maybe i can find them somewhere.
The Bush Tucker Man episode that has been mentioned before and it was probably my first experience of this tale was from
Series 1 1988 Episode 5 of, Bush Tucker Man: Rainforest at Iron Range

There is apparaently a book about it called
"The Mysteries of Black Mountain: Kalkajaka (place of the spear)by Maureen Kozicka" im thinking of ordering. And also seems to be a video project called "The Dark secrets of Black Mountain by Rory McCourt Productions, 1992, c1989" in which members Chillagoe Caving Society join the team to explore the numerous caverns within the black granite boulders.
James Cook Uni

The National Park's distinctive hard granite "Black Mountains" boulders and range originally formed out of magma that first slowly solidified under the Earth's crust about 250 million years ago.
The softer land surfaces above the solidified magma eroded away over time, leaving the magma's fractured top to be exposed as a mountain of grey granite boulders blackened by a film of microscopic blue-green algae growing on the exposed surfaces. Colder rains falling on the dark, heated granite boulders causes the boulders to progressively fracture, break, and slowly disintegrate, sometimes explosively

wiki

So at least it seems in more recent times a more professional caving team has been exploring in there rather than just some of the foolishly bravehardy men from the past.



[edit on 10-6-2009 by pazcat]

Hah, well i had just about given up on hearing back from the library when what do you know, today i get a little package containing a few newspaper clippings and an exerpt of Maureen Kozicka's book. Thats a lot more than i expected just wanted a helpful e_mail back.

So here is the cover letter for now untill i can ask the wife for a crash course in scanning and pdf files, otherwise i will transcribe all the articles but that is time consuming.

TDear Mr name withheld.
Thankyou for your enquiry regarding Black Mountain near Cooktown.

Please find enclosed information from the publication, The Mysteries of Black Mountain by Maureen Kozicka. This mentions some of the disappearances on the mountain but does not give exact references to newspaper articles. We also hold a newspaper clippings file on Black Mountain and i have copied and enclosed these articles.

I trust this information is of assistance to you.

Kind Regards
name withheld

State library of Queensland

Enclose is a small article describing the area in 'The Wild River Times' from July August 1979
Also an intriguing article on a seperate but supposed ancient pyramid near the Black Mountains titled 'Mystery of the Lost Pyramid' From the Daily Sun July 22 1983
Another titled 'Black Mountain a ledgend in its own epoch' from what appears to be(its hard to make out on the photocopy) the North Queensland Register from April 1996
Also a little excerpt from 'People' from the 16/12/65 which follows

Mystery Solved?
Mention of vugs (Oct 20) leads me to suggest that a natural cavity of this kind may be behind the mystery of Black Mountain, some 20 miles south of Cooktown, Queensland. A number of people have disappeared into the mountain since its discovery in 1870. The possibility is that its caves connect up with an underground chasm or vug. - Mac

Plus there is the part of the book sent. SO as i say give me some time to work out what im doing as i dont really want to transcribe the lot (if anyone has any easier ideas im all ears).

So really this doesnt answer many questions but has opened up a few more, like the ancient pyramid. But there still does not seem to be huge amounts of info about it. Im going to try and contact the caving society that spent some time there and see what they say.

hey bud

i came across your post about the black mountain while doing some research on it found it quite interesting.
i noticed you did some research in to it. but your forum slowly died out.

did you end up getting in contact with the caving society?
did they answer your questions or did they create more?
did you end up going up there for your self? are you still interested?

let me know of your findings please as i too would love to know more about this place

I'm pretty sure that only one person has gone in and ever came out. He was curious but once his light died he was completely disorientated. His mouth was filling with soot as he scrambled around in the dark. He feared coming across a snake and frantically tried to find an exit, in complete blackness. Luckily, he did find a way out, but it was completely pot luck. Of course, he should've tied a rope at the entrance to avoid that. He vowed never to go in again and I don't blame him. Quite a few people have disappeared in the mountain, which I believe has steep falls down into magma (from what I've read anyway).

It is an interesting place and I'm surprised it hasn't been investigated further, perhaps through fear more than anything. But professional spelunkers should be okay nonetheless. It would be nice to get some quality equipment and go check it out.Although if one rock falls in the wrong place while you're inside it could mean death or your path out is blocked.

a reply to: pazcat

Yes, this place does exist. I was there. 1978 as a 17 year old. I was on a bus trip through the out back. We came upon this huge pile of rocks from the West. Th e mulligan HWY, then was dirt, and traveled near the rocks. We stopped were given the story of people dissapearing, be careful, stay in site of the bus, the bus was leaving at 4pm, no exceptions, no search party etc. I had a 35 mm camera loaded with Slide film. I was keeping some distance from the actual pile to avoid getting caught , snagged. The larger pile was in the distance. There were a couple. Not from the bus ? No other vehicles . This couple enticed me around the pile to take better pictures. On this side away from the bus there were, what appeared to be rock/ stockade like corrals. As if wooden post like a early american fort. but out of stone. these sloped down into the piles of huge boulders. Shade, Twilight even in the area. The couple kept encouraging me to jump down into these coral type areas, there was grass in the bottom. I didn't see a way to get up out, so said no, Then we came to one that seemed shallow enough. I jumping down in , took a couple shots. When I tried to get out it was much deeper than it appeared. Optical illusion or actually got deeper. I ran jumped climbed scrambled, with the couple onlooking and laughing, as though I had fallen into a trap. Finally with a superman type jump I was able to get out. The area was getting dark, I was on the East side of this outcropping. Yes in Australia, the sun still sets in the West. I said I had to get back to the bus, the couple kept trying to hinder me, but without actually touching me. I got back to the bus, they were ready to go, I had been gone longer than it seemed. They were afraid I was Lost. We left. My camera was later stolen and film gone. The Bus driver also pointed out that the couple I was talking about was not on the bus or any other known vehicle. He nevertheless, believed the story completely. I now have found some information on the internet. I believe that the place I was, is a taboo place called Yirrmbal near the foot of the range. The point is. Other stories do seem plausible. I did not go into the Large piles & Caves. I believe they are there. The stories were there. Those who think they can just go in with a rope and be fine are Nieve. Please be careful.