The beginnings of the Wandoan township can be traced back to 1853 when 'Juandah' Station was established at this location in 1849. When Herbert Salway and Percival Sydney Francis Stephen first tendered for a huge area of land: "Juandah" of and two other runs "Coringa" of and "Cherwondah" of . This area, defined in accordance with the 1847 Orders-in-Council, falls far short of the actual size of the holding, which has been estimated at —five and a half times as much. The aggregation of these three runs became known as "Juandah" and records show Percival Stephen was living on "Juandah" before August 1849.