Cowcowing Cemetery - WA

Cowcowing townsite originated as a railway siding and was gazetted in 1919. However the town is long gone and all that remains is the CBH Wheatbin and Cowcowing Cemetery, located 4km a further 4km north of the townsite.Cowcowing Lakes is a large tract of land that is primarily a dry saltpan surrounded by dense salt-tolerant plants. The lake goes through a cycle of being wet for part of the year and then to either a salt crust or dusty plain as the lake dries out in the summer months. A natural function of all wetlands and lakes is to act as conduits returning salts deposited by rainfall, back to the ocean. At times the movement of salts by human standards is slow, and the wetlands often serve as temporary storage or reservoirs of salt. When full, it covers an area of around 15,000 hectares and is located north of Wyalkatchem on the way to Koorda.The name of the town is Aboriginal in origin and was first recorded by explorers in 1854. The name of the nearby lake, originally recorded as Gow gow eeh lake, has now been renamed Cowcowing Lake. The meaning of the name remains unknown.The cemetery is the final resting place for the many of the early pioneering families and will be fascinating to anyone with an interest in the early history of the region. The site is well worth a stop and a leisurely stroll around the cemetery to pay homage to the earlier settlers and to see an insight into the hardships of early life in the Wheatbelt.