Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Katanning is a town located 277 km south east of Perth, Western Australia. It is 311 m above sea level. There is considerable disagreement as to just exactly what 'Katanning' means. Some sources argue that it is derived from the local Aboriginal word 'kartanup' meaning a 'clear pool of sweet water' while others suggest that it comes from 'kartannin' meaning 'meeting place'. To confuse matters there have been some people who insist that the town was named after an Aboriginal woman called Kate Ann or Kate Anning. The first Europeans to explore the Katanning area were Governor James Stirling and Surveyor General John Septimus Roe who travelled through the area in 1835 en route from Perth to Albany. In about 1870, sandalwood cutters moved into the area but they did not settle. It was not until the arrival of the Great Southern Railway from Perth to Albany in 1889 that the township really came into existence. A statue of Piesse which was erected in 1916 and stands beside the railway line in Austral Terrace. This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.