Qualla: De Fontaine Memorial

De Fontaine Memorial: Introduction

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 4.0. The tree is gone now. It was called the "Government Tree," and under its branches on 12 May 1885, two Bajau men walked up to a group of British officials and Indian constables, struck up a friendly conversation, and then opened fire. When the violence ended, Dr. Donald Manson Fraser lay dead from a point-blank gunshot, three Indian constables had been killed by spearmen, and Captain A.M. de Fontaine -- chief commissioner of the British North Borneo Constabulary -- had taken a spear wound that would kill him five days later. A 2.5-metre obelisk on a stepped square base now stands where the tree once grew, in the village of Kawang, Sabah.

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Image: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas | CC BY-SA 4.0

De Fontaine Memorial: The Puroh Expedition

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0. De Fontaine had come to North Borneo from the Singapore police force. In May 1885, he organized what was called the Puroh Expedition, tasked with finding a Murut chief named Kandurong, known as both a cattle thief and a headhunter. De Fontaine assembled a party that included G.L....

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Image: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas | CC BY-SA 3.0

De Fontaine Memorial: A Demand Too Far

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Bajau headmen resisted. "The carrying of heavy loads is hard for them," they told the British, a refusal that was as much about dignity as physical burden. The British Resident threatened to fine the village if the headmen did not comply. Tensions sharpened when a porter from...

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Image: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas | CC BY-SA 3.0

De Fontaine Memorial: Seven Seconds Under the Tree

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0. Two Bajau men approached the group carrying guns and began what appeared to be casual conversation. Then, without warning, one of them shot Dr. Fraser at point-blank range. Seven more Bajau fighters charged from concealment with spears, killing three Indian constables and woundin...

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Image: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas | CC BY-SA 3.0

De Fontaine Memorial: The Obelisk and What It Remembers

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit CEphoto, Uwe Aranas, CC BY-SA 3.0. The tree where the ambush occurred became known as the Government Tree, a local landmark that served as an informal memorial for years. When the tree eventually fell, the Resident of the time proposed erecting a permanent marker: a small stone pillar, fenced in, to stand as a per...

Read more: De Fontaine Memorial on Qualla

Image: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas | CC BY-SA 3.0