On 13 September 1860 the Burke and Wills expedition to the Gulf of Carpentaria arrived at Wakool Crossing and dined at Henry Talbett's hotel. The next day they crossed the Wakool River by Talbett’s punt and Burke paid £9.6.0 "for portage, provisions &c.". On 13 July 1979, working as a Detective, Senior Constable Bob Lane of the Victoria Police, accompanied a suspect from Piangil to a campsite across the state border at Kyalite New South Wales. While searching the suspect's bus, the suspect (Daniel Bernard Chapman) shot Lane twice in the head with a rifle that he had previously hidden, killing him instantly. Following a massive manhunt involving both Victorian and New South Wales police members, Chapman was apprehended 7 days later after he had dumped the police car in the river, and was sentenced to life in prison. He was released just 13 years later.