What is Stringybark Creek?
[[File:Stringybark creek.jpg|thumb|Stringybark Creek, Victoria]] [[File:Stringybark creek plaque.jpg|thumb|Memorial at Stringybark Creek]] '''Stringybark Creek''' is a small creek in the Wombat Ranges, [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], [[Australia]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tolmietimes.com/page-tolmie-little-bit-history |title=Tolmie a little bit of history. |first= |last= |work=tolmietimes.com |year=2011 |accessdate=19 October 2011 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> It is famous for the place where three policemen were murdered on 26 October 1878. The [[Police officer|policemen]], [[Sergeant]] Michael Kennedy, [[Constable]] Thomas Lonigan, and Constable Michael Scanlan were searching the forest for the Kelly brothers, [[Ned Kelly|Ned]] and [[Dan Kelly]]. They were wanted for the attempted murder of another policeman, [[Ned Kelly#The Fitzpatrick Incident|Constable Fitzpatrick]]. The creek is in the Toombullup State Forest, 50km from [[Benalla, Victoria|Benalla]] and 36km from [[Mansfield, Victoria|Mansfield]].<ref name=brc>{{cite web |url=http://www.benalla.vic.gov.au/Page/Page.asp?Page_Id=685 |title=Stringybark Creek |first= |last= |work=Benalla Rural City |year=2011 |accessdate=19 October 2011 |archive-date=17 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120317142353/http://www.benalla.vic.gov.au/Page/Page.asp?Page_Id=685 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The area has been developed for visitors and includes picnic area, camping, toilets and walking tracks.<ref name=brc/> A memorial stone was put in place in 2001. It is near the remains of the hut. A tree near the site of two of the murders (Lonigan and Scanlan), the Police/ Kelly Tree, was scarped by a farmer in the 1930s. He carved the names of the three murdered police into it as a memorial. It has had a small copy of [[:en:Armour_of_the_Kelly_gang|Ned Kelly's helmet]] attached to it. This caused great upset to the families of the murdered policemen. The other murder site (Kennedy's) is approximate