1802. The Plains of Promise was the area now in the vicinity of Burketown at , which was named by John Lort Stokes, Commander of in August 1841. In 1861, the South Australian, Victorian and Queensland governments funded expeditions to rescue the Burke and Wills expedition. They had failed to return from their journey to the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1860. The Queensland Government realised that these expeditions would increase the knowledge of the country in the vicinity of the Gulf. On 5 September 1861, Queensland Governor George Bowen informed the Secretary of State for the Colonies that Queensland Parliament would protect any settlers who moved into the area. This was on the provision that the western boundary of Queensland was extended to include the Gulf of Carpentaria. This proposal was accepted by the British Government, provided that the Queensland Government understood that the additional territory west of the 138th meridian could be taken back at a later date. This was with a view for the formation of another separate colony in that area. On 12 April 1862, a supplementary commission altering the boundary of Queensland was issued by the British Government. These Letters Patent described the additional territory annexed to the Colony of Queensland as:"So much of our Colony of New South Wales as there to the northward of the twenty-sixth parallel of south latitude and between the one hundred and forty first and one hundred and thirty-eighth meridians of east longitude, together with all and every, the adjacent islands, their members and appurtenances in the Gulf of Carpentaria."It was at this stage that the bend in the western boundary of Queensland came into existence. Surveying the Queensland-New South Wales border In 1863, surveyors Francis Edward Roberts from Queensland and Isaiah Rowland from New South Wales were chosen to survey the boundary line between Queensland and New South Wales. The survey of the Queensland – New South Wales border was to be made up of 3 components: Point Danger to the Dumaresq River Dumaresq to the Macintyre and Barwon rivers 29th parallel of south latitude. Only the parallel of latitude and the border ranges had to be surveyed. The river section did not require survey as it was a natural feature and was readily identifiable. Starting from Point Danger in June 1863, the surveyors marked a rock with their initials. The mark included a colony abbreviation and the last