Gould Island killings (January 1872)

In January 1872, dugong fishermen Henry Smith and Charles Clements were killed by Aboriginals on Gould Island. Accompanied by a number of local Cardwell squatters including Philip Frederic Sellheim, Johnstone and his troopers scoured the island and nearby Hinchinbrook Island, finding a fishing net and two boxes.^[22]

Punitive expeditions after the wreck of the Maria (March 1872)

On 26 February 1872, the brig Maria carrying 75 people of a gold prospecting expedition to New Guinea was wrecked upon Bramble Reef. The survivors escaped the sinking ship on 3 boats and 2 rafts. Two of the boats made it safely to the nearest British settlement of Cardwell, but the other three craft were washed up on beaches to the north of the town. Up to ten of these crew members, including the captain, were found to have been killed by Aboriginals residing in this region. Lieutenant Sabine of the Royal Navy happened to be in Cardwell at this time and led a mission to recover the boat, which they found and were preparing to re-float. As the men were preparing a meal about 120 Aboriginal men rushed towards the boat. In response, the group open fire, killing 8 native people. Brinsley Sheridan, who wanted to secure the safety of Cardwell, ordered Johnstone with his troopers "to inflict decisive punishment". Johnstone was aided by another Royal Navy officer in Captain John Moresby who also had sailed into Cardwell as part of his expedition to New Guinea. Moresby provided additional armed marines and a large schooner for Johnstone to fulfil his mission. Moresby described how the Aboriginal Native Police troopers surprised one camp of Aboriginals with "unrestrained ferocity", resulting in the deaths of several Aboriginal people. A six-year-old boy was brought back from the raid and sent for education to England by Mr. Hayter. The boy died there from disease of the lungs three years later.^[23]

Johnstone and his troopers, together with armed sailors and volunteers, scoured the coast from Cardwell north to Cooper Point, searching every Aboriginal camp they came across.^[24] A member of this party later wrote that Johnstone "spoke of killing whole camps, not merely men but girls and piccaninnies" during these raids. Johnstone apparently bragged that the Premier of Queensland, Arthur Hunter Palmer, approved of his methods and protected him from any possible recriminations. The statements were denied by Johnstone in 'the most emphatic manner'.^[25] Newspapers reported that Johnstone's detachment of Native Police killed a total of 93 local Aboriginals in the Maria reprisals.^[26] Accusations of mass murder by Johnstone even reached the Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies in London, Robert Herbert. A subsequent investigation by the Queensland government condoned Johnstone's actions on the grounds that the Aboriginals of the north were "savage and treacherous".^[27]

Wyandotte Station killings (July 1872)

A travelling correspondent to the Valley of Lagoons area by the name of Richard Bird Hall wrote several letters to the Queensland Government and to various newspapers about the murderous actions of Johnstone and his troopers.^[28] In particular, a massacre of Aboriginals working on Walter Jervoise Scott's Wyandotte run conducted by Johnstone caused a minor scandal. Eight Gugu-Badhun men and two women were killed with most of the corpses "left exposed on the roadside till they stank".^[29] The government and the commissioner of police, David Thompson Seymour, defended Johnstone's actions and he was promoted to full sub-Inspector not long after this.^[30]

Valley of Lagoons dispersals (1872)

During the early 1870s, Johnstone was stationed at various outposts of the massive Valley of Lagoons Station owned by Walter Jervoise Scott. Johnstone describes how the Gugu-Badhun who speared livestock on this property which was once their land were punished in most cases by general massacre. However, he does point out that on one occasion he only shot dead the dogs of the Aboriginals when it was discovered the main target, a man named Tallboy, had previously saved the life of a white man.^[31]

Herbert River dispersals (February and March 1873)

Johnstone reported to Police Commissioner Seymour that on 14 March near Mt Leach "I dispersed a large mob and returned to camp...on 21 February I succeeded in dispersing three mobs on the Seaview Range...and on 27 March on the Lower Herbert River I dispersed a large mob."^[17]

Green Island killings (April and July 1873)

In April 1873, the Goodwill vessel arrived at Green Island with 3 European crew and 5 Manbarra people press-ganged from Palm Island to collect and process beche de mer. The Aboriginals, including 3 men and 2 women, resented their treatment and killed two of the whites and stole the "Goodwill". The third, Daniel Kelly, escaped to nearby Oyster Quay Island to report the killings to another beche-de-mer fisherman named Philip Garland.^[32] The incident was reported to authorities in Cardwell and Police Commissioner Seymour ordered Johnstone via telegram to organise a punitive mission.

Johnstone and his troopers sailed to the area in their police boat and found the "Goodwill" abandoned and burnt on a beach in Trinity Bay where the modern-day community of Yarrabah is now located. "The blacks were given a proper warm reception" when Johnstone arrived and after proceeding inland for 3 miles his troopers dispersed another group of local Yidinji people first by firing on them from a distance and then charging amongst them. Johnstone's section then sailed to the mouth of what is now called the Mulgrave River and dispersed "a large mob of blacks" with gunfire. They then sailed further south to the Gladys Inlet (which is now known as the Johnstone River) where a large group of Aboriginals led by a very tall man decorated with pipeclay resisted the troopers' approach. Johnstone punished their "insolence" with gunfire and this leader was one of those killed in the shooting. Johnstone sailed a little further up the river towards its bifurcation, noting the dense jungles and thick soil which could be exploited for sugarcane farming despite the area being populated with Aboriginal people.^[33]

The Northeast Coast Expedition (September to December 1873)

In the latter quarter of 1873, Johnstone accompanied George Elphinstone Dalrymple in his Northeast Coast Expedition funded by the colonial Queensland government. This group was heavily armed with thirteen Native Police troopers assigned to the expedition. After leaving Cardwell and exploring Mourilyan Harbour, they sailed north to Gladys Inlet. Here Dalrymple renamed the river entering the inlet as the Johnstone River after his Native Police travelling companion.^[34]

After several days evaluating the potential of clearing this region of thick jungle for exploitation of cash crops such as sugar, the group sailed back to the mouth of the river. The expedition then sailed north to Trinity Bay and camped on Double Island. Needing water, Dalrymple directed Mr. Thompson towards the smoke from an Aboriginal beach camp on the mainland at a place now known as Palm Cove and Johnstone and his troopers proceeded there in the police boat. The group obtained water from a narrow lagoon about 2 miles long that ran parallel to the shore. While approaching the lagoon, a large number of Aboriginals came out of the camps and prevented Johnstone's advance. According to instructions, Johnstone did not fire a shot. When the Aboriginal group advanced to about 30 yards and were shipping their spears into their woomeras and were poised to throw, Dalrymple reporting that the "sniders opened upon them".^[34]

After this, the expedition sailed north to the Endeavour River where the land was quickly deemed unsuitable for agriculture. Whilst at anchor during midday, a local Aboriginal man was spotted taking a survey flag that was set up on a sandbank in the river. For this action, Johnstone, his troopers and others aboard the ship opened fire on this man who managed to escape despite many rounds being fired at him. The troopers "were wild to go over for the purpose of teaching the myalls better behaviour". Two men followed the tracks for about a mile but failed to reach the camp.^[35]

The expedition briefly returned to Cardwell before heading north again to another river inlet which Dalrymple named the Mulgrave River. Again this area was found to be populated by Aboriginals with numerous gunyah style houses, rafts and canoes observed along the banks. Johnstone and a number of troopers set out from here and managed to climb to the summit of Mount Bellenden Ker. At Constantine Point at the mouth of the Mulgrave River, Johnstone found a large gunyah and stole the mummified remains of an Aboriginal woman from it. Dalrymple's description was "The head of this mummy is small — the animal organs being developed to distortion, the mental being next to nil; in fact, it is of the very lowest type of human formation." Johnstone left two blankets and a tomahawk for "the bereaved relatives, who would doubtless rightly appreciate the exchange". The preserved corpse was given to the Museum of Brisbane. The expedition then travelled to rivers further to the north which Dalrymple named the Mossman River and the Daintree River. The final leg of their journey in December involved returning south to Cardwell. Along the way, they again stopped at the mouth of the Johnstone River where Johnstone found that a group of Aboriginals had dug up the remains of one of the crew members from the Maria shipwreck.^[34]

Albert and Edward incident (June 1874)

The crew of a sugar trading cutter by the name of Albert and Edward which anchored in Challenger Bay off Palm Island, kidnapped some local Aboriginal women for sexual purposes. In response, the vessel was attacked by Palm Island men, who attempted to burn down the ship and kill the captain and the mate. Despite newspaper reports describing the attack as a "murderous outrage", both sailors were only wounded and escaped to report the incident at Cardwell.^[36] Johnstone was sent to Palm Island to punish the natives. On arriving there he found that the islanders had not run away because they thought they would all be shot if found in other localities. Johnstone demanded they give up the ringleaders otherwise "everyone will be punished". He decided not to indiscriminately kill the islanders on this occasion considering the kidnapping of the women, but told them they would be punished in the future if a similar attack on whites occurred.^[37]

Seymour River dispersal (January 1875)

After "the blacks" had robbed a hut at Dalrymple's Gap, sub-Inspectors Johnstone and Burrowes and their troopers tracked them to the coast at Seymour River estuary where they were "dispersed".^[38]

Retribution after the Conn killings (April 1875)

British settler William Conn and his wife were murdered by Aboriginals on their selection near what is now the modern town of Bemerside. For three days, Johnstone and his troopers searched all the native camps they could find in the mountains around the immediate region. At one of the camps they came across three Aboriginal women, one of who was gnawing on the dismembered feet of Mr. Conn.^[39] Another group "got their just deserts" when they were killed trying to flee to Hinchinbrook Island. After going to Cardwell to obtain some re-inforcements, Johnstone returned to the area and went on another punitive mission "until we caught them".^[40]

Founding of Cairns (1876)

Up until 1876, the area around what is now Cairns was simply known to the British either as Trinity Bay or Smith's Landing. It was also known as Battle Camp after beche-de-mer fisherman Philip Garland killed a number of Aboriginals there while stealing a canoe.^[41] In 1876, Johnstone with other Native Police officers in Alexander Douglas-Douglas and George Townsend, aided in the creation of a track from the Hodgkinson goldfields to the coast where Battle Camp became a port for the miners. This port was later named Cairns. In the same expedition, Johnstone sailed into the river to the north of Cairns, naming it the Barron River. He walked through the rocky areas and went as far as the Barron Falls, noting that the local Aboriginals were constantly indicating (from a safe distance) for his exploring group to go away.^[42]

Chilcott Islet and Dunk Island killings (February 1877)

Captain Thomas Harris of the schooner Douglas had three Aboriginals from the Dunk Island area to work loading guano and beche-de-mer from Chilcott Islet. During the night while the crew were sleeping, the Aboriginal men killed four of the crew after they had arrived at the islet, and took control of the ship.^[43] Two of the Dunk Islanders were killed by the ships crew during the re-taking of the ship, but the remaining one, a man by the name of Dungaree, escaped by swimming to a nearby island. He was later picked up and transported to Sydney for trial.^[44] Ominously, Johnstone himself describes a later patrol on Dunk Island as unnecessary as he "knew there was no blacks furthermore on this island." Dungaree was acquitted in Sydney but was forced to become a Native Police trooper under the command of Johnstone. After several years in the Native Police, Dungaree was advised by Johnstone that he could return to his tribe but "if ever they murdered a white man we would return and shoot all the men". Dungaree decided to stay in the force, but was killed not long after by "Burdekin blacks".^[45]

The Riser killings (1878)

The two man crew of the cutter Riser were found dead, supposedly killed by Aboriginals, after their vessel was wrecked near Sisters Island. Johnstone and troopers scoured the South Barnard Islands and along the mainland around Kurrimine Beach for Aboriginals.^[46] He "searched the camps..punished the murderers" and returned to his barracks at Cardwell.^[47]

Tam O'Shanter Point incident (November 1879)

Two white brothers who were robbed of their belongings and horses by around "40 male blacks" at Tam O'Shanter Point, reported the incident to Johnstone. He and troopers went out after them and Johnstone had the matter "satisfactorily seen to".^[48]