Cowits was Western Australia's first Aboriginal policeman, and was a member of a number of early exploratory expeditions.
Cowits and his brother, Souper
Cowits came from the York area. He was born around 1832. He had a brother named Souper. In July 1834 Rivett Henry Bland was returning from Guildford when the following incident occurred: In 1837, Souper assisted Arthur Trimmer to capture the aborigine who had speared William Knott near York in September 1836. Souper was sentenced to two years prison on Rottnest Island for stealing a sheep from Burges’ farm. His story was set out in a report to Benefit Societies in England, and published in the Perth Gazette in September 1844. In that story, he gives an account of his time at Rottnest and says that his mother and father and uncles were all dead, but he had a brother in York.
From about the age of about nine, if Lefroy's age estimate is correct, Cowits was brought up in the house of Dr Henry Landor, a settler, physician, scientist and explorer, and one of three brothers who came to the Swan River Colony in 1841 intending to make a fortune in six or seven years from sheep farming. In the York census of 1842, Cowits is referred to as “working for settlers in the York District”. Landor farmed in partnership with Nathan Elias Knight, leasing Bland and Trimmer's 4,000-acre farm in York. While there, Landor became concerned with the spread of disease among the Aborigines. It was his opinion that contact with white settlers had been the cause of the virulent diseases. He took it upon himself to gather as many Aborigines as he could to look after them properly, and he applied unsuccessfully for government money for a hospital, though received some funds for medical treatment. In January 1843, Landor and Henry Maxwell Lefroy explored east of “the Dale” and took Cowits with them “to shoot kangaroos, and to act as interpreter when our guides were unintelligible to us”. Landor left the Colony in 1845.
Cowits assisted John Drummond, head of police in Toodyay. When Walkinshaw Cowan was appointed Protector of Natives in York,. Cowits was about 16 at the time. Cowan thought Cowits was very efficient and recommended that he be appointed as the first native assistant policeman in York. Cowan recorded in his diary and also wrote in 1868 about this:
Cowan tries to get a house for Cowits
On 26 August 1850, Cowan wrote to the Governor on behalf of Cowits: Cowan did not receive a reply to his letter on behalf of Cowits and wrote again on 28 October 1851: Governor Fitzgerald responded: In 1852, the prison cells were constructed in York on the area selected by Cowan for Cowits' house, being the first buildings of the current York Courthouse Complex.
Brothers
Apart from Souper, Cowits' brothers were Nurgap, Dide, Nortap and Billiup. Souper also became an Aboriginal policeman, as did other brothers. Souper accidentally shot himself in the thigh in February 1853 in the course of arresting an Aboriginal escapee named Paddy. In 1852, one brother was a servant of Mr Parker.
Further expeditions
In 1854, Cowits accompanied Assistant Surveyor Robert Austin on an expedition to “Shark’s Bay”, but Cowits became sick and had to stay at “Nombekine”. In 1863, Cowits accompanied Lefroy on his expedition east of York to the interior. Cowits was described by Lefroy as The journal of the expedition frequently refers to Cowits’ active and important role in the exploration. Lefroy comments with amusement that Cowits always called their camp “home”. The expedition also took with them a friend of Cowits, Tommy Windich. John Cowan and Cowits proceeded 60 miles beyond Smith’s station, and that both had returned to York by mid October 1863. Cowits also accompanied an expedition of Charles Cooke Hunt to the east of York in 1864, and again in July l866, and an expedition of McRae and Scholl to the Fortescue in August and September 1866.
Death
Cowits died of influenza, aggravated by drinking, in April 1868. Cowan said of him:
