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However, a preliminary evaluation indicated that the supply of fresh fruit
and vegetables was in the hands of either one or two groups of Chinese
market gardeners, and that the same groups may have had a significant
degree of control over water resources within the community.
1.3 Research Strategy
From the beginning of my research I regarded the Chinese at Milparinka as
a group who could illustrate the role of non-Europeans in colonial
expansion into western New South Wales. However, little was known of
their activities or their lifestyle. In order to place their role in context and to
demonstrate that the information which results may have relevance beyond
Milparinka, it has been necessary to take account of a broad range of
supplementary information. The Chinese at Milparinka probably arrived in
search of gold, but like most others were not particularly successful. The
supplemental information demonstrates that their backgrounds were
probably diverse, and that their activities at Milparinka may have had
parallels amongst Chinese communities elsewhere in rural New South
Wales. I have used the information to suggest that the Chinese at
Milparinka and elsewhere identified and exploited alternate opportunities
for wealth creation on an economic frontier created primarily by
Europeans. I have used the archaeological record under consideration to
confirm the general nature of their activities, to suggest specific aspects of
their lifestyle, and show that their efforts at Milparinka were only marginally
more successful than those of to the community as a whole.
The general strategy adopted was first to establish an outline history of
European expansion into that area of New South Wales which lies west of
the Darling River. Emphasis was placed upon expansion from the southeast,
primarily because it was from this direction that expansion appears to
have been most pronounced. The records created by Charles Sturt and
other members of his 1844-45 exploring expedition, which traversed the
area from the south were treated as the earliest specifically relevant
source of information. The results of that research are contained in
Chapter 2. Next, attention was directed to identifying the pattern of
European occupation, concentrating upon evidence of pastoral enterprise,
but in particular, upon evidence for the establishment of pastoral stations in
the vicinity of Milparinka.
Attention was then directed at identifying the pattern of subsequent
development. The establishment of service centres, firstly in the form of
isolated hotels and stores, and then in the creation of a major township at
Wilcannia, was studied. Although the location of stores and hotels was
determined, only passing attention has been paid to their form or manner
of operation. More attention was given to the historical information
regarding Wilcannia. One reason for this was the desire to identify the
cultural groups present, and if possible, specific individuals whose names
would appear in both Milparinka and Wilcannia. Wilcannia was the main