Endeavour River

The river system comprises three branches that are sourced by runoff from the Henderson and Audaer Ranges. The river flows generally east from the Great Dividing Range to the Coral Sea. The Right Branch of the river rises northwest of {{QLDcity|Hopevale}} at an elevation of {{convert|335|m}} and flows generally south by east for {{convert|48|km}} before reaching its confluence to join with the Endeavour River northwest of {{QLDcity|Cooktown}}, and west of the river mouth. The South Branch of the river rises near Alderbury at an elevation of {{convert|109|m}} and flows generally east for {{convert|20|km}} before forming confluence with the North Branch to form the Endeavour River. The North Branch of the river rises below Honeysuckle Flat at an elevation of {{convert|160|m}} and flows generally west and then south for {{convert|20|km}} before forming confluence with the South Branch to form the Endeavour River. Having been formed by the South and North Branches, the Endeavour River rises below Flaggy at an elevation of {{convert|39|m}} and flows generally east towards its mouth with the Coral Sea at Cooktown, flowing through the Endeavour River National Park for the last few kilometres of its course. The Endeavour River has a catchment area of {{convert|1315|km2}}.{{cite book |url=http://www.capeyorkwaterquality.info/sites/default/files/downloads/annan-endeavour_water_quality_report-final.pdf |author1=Howley, Christina |author2=Brooks, Andrew |author3=Olley, Jon |author4=Carroll, Jason |title=Annan and Endeavour River Freshwater and Estuarine Water Quality Report: An Assessment of Ambient Water Quality and Effects of Land Use: 2002 - 2009 |publisher=Cape York Marine Advisory Group Incorporated |location=Cooktown, Queensland |date=March 2012 |access-date=23 October 2015 |page=11 }}

In recent years, tilapia fish, which are considered an "invasive species" in Australia, have infested the river, causing concern that the stocks of native fish will suffer.

The river basin remains largely unmodified and the water quality is rated as good.{{cite web|url=http://www.anra.gov.au/topics/water/condition/qld/basin-endeavour-river.html |title=Assessment of River Condition - Endeavour River |date=6 May 2009 |work=Australian Natural Resources Atlas |publisher=Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities |access-date=15 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110602225201/http://www.anra.gov.au/topics/water/condition/qld/basin-endeavour-river.html |archive-date=2 June 2011 |df=dmy }}

File:Captain Cook statue.jpg Commander, H.M.B. Endeavour, which was beached and repaired near this site 17 June – 4 August 1770]]

James Cook named the river in 1770 after he was forced to beach his ship, {{HMS|Endeavour||6}},{{cite book |title=The Endeavour at the Endeavour: Cook's and Bank's journals from 11 June to 4 August 1770 |editor1=Shay, John |editor2=Shay, Bev |publisher=Cooktown and District Historical Society }} for repairs in the river mouth, after damaging it on Endeavour Reef.{{cite book|last=Collingridge|first=Vanessa|author-link=Vanessa Collingridge|title=Captain Cook: The Life, Death and Legacy of History's Greatest Explorer|date=February 2003|publisher=Ebury Press|isbn=0-09-188898-0}} Joseph Banks named the river the Endeavours River[http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks05/0501141h.html#jun1770 The Endeavour Journal of Sir Joseph Banks] but the form Cook used, Endeavour River, has stuck.

Cook and his crew remained for almost seven weeks and made contact with the local Guugu Yimithirr people. The naturalists Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander made extensive collections of native flora, while Sydney Parkinson illustrated much of the flora and fauna of the region. Botanical specimens were also collected by Allan Cunningham after he arrived on {{HMS|Mermaid|1817|6}}, captained by Philip Parker King on 28 June 1819.

Modern Cooktown which has a population of about 2,000, is located at the mouth of the Endeavour River. It is one of the northernmost towns on the east coast of Australia and was founded in 1873, around the site of Cook's landing, as a port to service the newly discovered Palmer River goldfields. Some of the relatively undisturbed natural features near the mouth of the river have been reserved in the Endeavour River National Park.

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{{Portal|Queensland|Water|Environment}}

• {{Section link|List of rivers of Australia|Queensland}}
• Tilapia as exotic species

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• {{gutenberg|no=8106|name=Captain Cook's Journal During the First Voyage Round the World}}

• {{Commons category-inline}}

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{{Rivers of Queensland}}

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Category:Rivers of Far North Queensland

Category:Bodies of water of the Coral Sea