OUR HISTORY
170 Years on This Country
From the first pastoral leases of the 1850s to a modern family enterprise.
THE STORY
Woven into the story of the outback
The stations of Yadlamalka Pastoral were taken up in the very first wave of pastoral settlement in South Australia’s Far North. Explorers camped on this country, camel strings left Beltana for the Overland Telegraph, and generations of pastoral families — the Domans among them since the 1890s — have worked its saltbush plains ever since.
1839
Explorer Edward John Eyre establishes a depot camp on what is now Wilkatana Station during his journey north.
1851
Yadlamalka is taken up as a sheep run amid the rapid granting of pastoral leases in the Far North.
1854
Beltana and Lake Torrens stations are established. John McDouall Stuart surveys the Beltana country the following year.
1862
Sir Thomas Elder takes over Beltana, breeding camels for exploration and the Overland Telegraph — the station becomes home to the famous Afghan cameleers.
1890s
The Doman family’s pastoral story begins in the district — a heritage now spanning more than 130 years.
1912
A weir is built on Wilkatana to capture water for the Commonwealth Railways, piped to Port Augusta in wooden pipes for the steam trains.
Mid-1900s
Under T. A. Doman & Co, Yadlamalka carries flocks of more than 13,000 sheep and around 200 cattle.
2017
Andrew Doman buys the historic Beltana Station at auction, adding 154,100 hectares to the family holdings.
2024
Lake Torrens Station joins in August; neighbouring Wilkatana follows in November after 123 years with the Sawers family.
Today
Approximately 350,000 hectares managed as one corridor of country — with an eye on the next century.
