 This frontier violence was a frequent occurrence in the region during the 1870s and 1880s.Selector Daniel Hart from the Mossman River wrote to the Queensland Premier in 1889, stating that, since the Europeans had taken all the land in the district, the Aborigines were being driven to starvation, which forced them to steal food, which then resulted in reports to the police.Then, "a dozen trackers and troopers follow their tracks and disperse them with bullets".