Location South Australia Basin countries Australia | Type Salt lake | |
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Lake Dutton, formerly known as Lake Gill, is a salt lake in the Australian state of South Australia located in the locality of Oakden Hills on the west side of the Stuart Highway, approximately 100 kilometres (62 mi) north-west of Port Augusta in the state's Far North region.
Map of Gill Lake, Oakden Hills SA 5713, Australia
It was named after artist S. T. Gill by explorer John Horrocks, who accompanied Horrocks and his party on an exploration trip to the north west of South Australia in 1846. It was also the location where Horrocks accidentally shot himself on 1 September 1846 and the injuries received caused his death on 23 September 1846.
The lake was discovered again by Benjamin Herschel Babbage who reported in July 1858 in a dispatch to Francis Dutton, the then Commissioner of Crown Lands reported that he had named this lake after the Commissioner. Babbage's name is the name that remains in official use.