matthew flinders was the first european to set foot on maria island in 1802, and noted from fires and footprints that it was inhabited. ludwig leichhardt traversed their coastal lands in late 1845, and noted that even in the hardiest conditions of the dry period, it was well-populated. he was the first european to have been sighted by marra people. the construction of the overland telegraph began to make the first major impact on the marra, as materials were shipped in near roper bar, where a large depot was established with upwards of 300 europeans. in 1872, with the advent of wentworth d'arcy uhr and dillon cox, who encountered roughly 130 marra dressed in ceremonial costume as they trespassed with their stock into the latter's territory. the marra were reported as trying to spear horses, and the colonials formed a square and shot away with a martini–henry effective up to 1,000 yards, several revolvers, and five westley richards shotguns. numerous marra were downed, but they persisted fearlessly with their spear-throwing for a half an hour despite the heavy losses. this was the first massacre to take place on marra lands. over the following years several white intruders died or were killed, and several reprisals took an unknown toll of more marra. paul foelsche, in response to one such incident, proposed making a punitive expedition against whole tribes in retaliation, specifying in his request that the party in pursuit of a vendetta be given total immunity from prosecution: the proposal was vetoed. generally, what happened along the stockroute crossing westwards from queensland and through marra territory was summed up in one late memoir, in the following terms: