Darling rivers was officially proclaimed on 4 December 1847. In 1849 Alexander McCallum took up the 'Menindee' pastoral lease. In September 1850 it was reported that "the commandant of the Native Police… and his gallant band" were "at Laidley Ponds" to investigate "aggressions… committed on shepherds". The account stated that "the natives had been very troublesome, and some parties had been obliged to abandon their stations." In 1851 the government surveyor Francis McCabe surveyed and mapped the lower Darling River. His plan of survey named the locality as "Minnindia". In about 1852 Thomas Pain, with his wife Bridget and children, settled at the site of Menindee and built a shanty hotel to provide services to travellers along the Darling River. Another source states the public house was built in about 1855, possibly by "a man named Williams". In any case Thomas Pain was certainly in possession of the building by 1860. In late January 1859 Captain Francis Cadell in charge of the Albury steamer entered the Darling River at its junction with the Murray and after four days travel he reached the site of Menindee before continuing on for a further four days until he reached the 'Mount Murchison' pastoral run. Cadell’s pioneering voyage on the Darling "demonstrated that the river could be navigated for the purpose of carrying on trade". In 1860 Thomas Pain was contracted to take mail on horseback once a fortnight along the Darling between Wentworth to Mount Murchison. Francis Cadell established a depot store at Menindee (which he sold in about 1862). The Burke and Wills expedition camped at Menindee on their journey to cross Australia from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria. They arrived here on 14 October 1860, crossed the Darling River at Kinchega Station and made Camp XXXIV (their thirty-fourth camp since leaving Melbourne). There was dissent within the party and the deputy-leader George Landells resigned. Robert O'Hara Burke split the party, heading north to Cooper Creek with half the men, stores and animals. The remaining men, stores and animals made a depot camp at Pamamaroo Creek (a sign and cairn mark the site of the camp). This camp was used for the remainder of 1860 and for most of 1861. While in Menindee, Burke stayed at Thomas Pain's hotel. Pain was later reimbursed by the Victorian Exploration Committee for outstanding accounts. In October 1861 Menindee was described as a settlement consisting