Swan Hill is a city in the northwest of Victoria, Australia on the Murray Valley Highway and on the south bank of the Murray River, downstream from the junction of the Loddon River. At , Swan Hill had a population of 11,508. Indigenous People The area is inhabited by the Wemba-Wemba (or Wamba-Wamba) and Wati-Wati people. Swan Hill was called "Matakupaat" or "place of the Platypus" by the Wemba Wamba people. Their language is the Wemba Wemba language, and the sub dialect is Bura Bura History In the Dreamtime, Totyerguil (from the area now known as Swan Hill) ran out of spears while chasing Otchtout the cod. This chase is part of the mythology of the creation of the Murray River. Based on evidence from Coobool Creek and Kow Swamp, it appears that Aboriginal people have lived in the area for the last 13,000–9,000 years. The area was given its current name by explorer Thomas Mitchell, while camping beside a hill on 21 June 1836. The European community grew up around a punt river crossing, which was established as early as 1846. This crossing serviced the growing agricultural area, and was the only river crossing for 100 km. The Post Office opened here on 1 February 1849. In 1853 Francis Cadell navigated the Murray river from its mouth in South Australia to Swan Hill in his paddle steamer, Lady Augusta. He arrived on 17 September 1853, narrowly beating William Randell of Mannum, who arrived 4 hours later in the PS Mary Ann. This demonstrated the feasibility of river traffic, which flourished until the introduction of the railway. In 1876 Swan Hill was described in the following terms: In 1883 the first of several red brick water towers was built to supply the growing town with water. Water was pumped out of the river and into the top of the tower by a wood-fired steam engine, and then flowed by gravitation to surrounding businesses and private residences. Many of these towers can still be seen around town. The railway from Bendigo was extended from Kerang to Swan Hill station in May 1890, being extended to Piangil in 1915. The punt river crossing was replaced by a timber truss, steel lift span bridge in 1896. The first six telephones were connected in Swan Hill on 2 October 1911. The National Bank was phone number 1. In 1914, Isaburo (Jo) Takasuka produced the