Near this place are two important Noongar sites, one called Warrungup Springs, the other called Morfitt’s Cave.
One of the early colonial explorers Henry Bunbury wrote about the riches of the area and its high population in 1834:
‘There were several signs of people being very numerous in the neighbourhood … owing to the facility of obtaining fish, a wholesome and plentiful food. Numerous and well-beaten paths near the banks of the estuary indicated the constant presence of considerable numbers … many deserted huts.’ (Hallam 1979: 68)
The late Mr. Joe Walley (respected elder) said of the area:
[The springs is] … a three spring underground stream that comes out … about sixty metres in front of us to the south … this was used mainly for the women’s campin’ area. We go back west from here behind us about a hundred metres and we’ll start coming in to bush food, … all sorts … of bush food. … That indicates the camp here just over the north side of where the sand banks and the estuary is where … they’ve been dragging out the bushes, specially berrin bushes we call it. … everything around it, it shows it’s a good campin’ place. They had the fresh water, they had the food. They cut back west over there a mile and a ‘alf and there in amongst the … quandongs … it was just like walkin’ into Coles shop. Further up in the other cave at Morfitt’s Cave it’s called … that’s part of a law cave or initiation.’
