Poison Rocks, historically known as Poison Rock, is a rock formation in Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

. It is located at 28°42′S 118°30′E, 100 km south-east of Mount Magnet

Mount Magnet, Western Australia

Mount Magnet is an old Western Australian gold rush town. The name was chosen during exploration of the region due to an isolated hill 5 km north west of the town current townsite. This hill has an extremely high iron content and affected the compasses of explorers...

 in the Shire of Sandstone

Shire of Sandstone

The Shire of Sandstone is a Local Government Area in the eastern Mid West region of Western Australia, about northeast of the state capital, Perth. The Shire covers an area of , and its seat of government is the town of Sandstone.-History:...

. The explorer Robert Austin

Robert Austin

Robert Austin led the Austin expedition of 1854, one of the first European inland explanations of Western Australia with Kenneth Brown. They explored Geraldton, Mount Magnet, and the Murchison River area.-References:...

 named the place after camping there during his expedition of 1854

Austin expedition of 1854

The Austin expedition of 1854 was an exploring expedition undertaken in Western Australia by Robert Austin in 1854. Other members of the party included Kenneth Brown....

. While he was there, nine of his horses died from eating poisonous plants, and he was forced to leave behind two more who were near death.

In 1869, John Forrest

John Forrest

Sir John Forrest GCMG was an Australian explorer, the first Premier of Western Australia and a cabinet minister in Australia's first federal parliament....

 led an expedition in search of the long lost explorer Ludwig Leichhardt

Ludwig Leichhardt

Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt, known as Ludwig Leichhardt, was a Prussian explorer and naturalist, most famous for his exploration of northern and central Australia.-Early life:...

. His party met a group of Aboriginal

Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....

s who offered to take them to a place where the skeletons of many horses could be seen. Forrest travelled with the group for a week, until it became clear that he was being led to Poison Rocks. He then resumed his earlier course.