1813 crossing of the Blue Mountains
The 1813 crossing of the Blue Mountains was a pivotal event in the expansion of colonial New South Wales, Australia. The Blue Mountains, part of the Great Dividing Range, presented a significant barrier to European settlement due to their steep cliffs and dense scrub. Prior to 1813, various explorers attempted to navigate the mountains, including Francis Barrallier and George Caley, but with limited success. In May 1813, Gregory Blaxland, William Lawson, and William Charles Wentworth successfully forged a path through the mountains by tracing mountain ridges, marking a crucial milestone for colonial expansion.
Their expedition revealed expansive lands suitable for agriculture, prompting the construction of a road by surveyor William Cox in 1815, which further facilitated settlement. Notably, this expansion had profound effects on the Aboriginal populations, particularly the Wiradjuri nation, who faced significant displacement and conflict with the incoming settlers. The legendary status bestowed upon Blaxland, Lawson, and Wentworth for their crossing belied the complex interactions with Indigenous peoples and the consequences of colonial expansion. By the mid-1820s, European settlement had surged, leading to tensions that culminated in events like the Bathurst War, highlighting the historical significance and impact of their journey.
1813 crossing of the Blue Mountains
The Blue Mountains are part of the Great Dividing Range that runs parallel to the eastern coast of Australia. Consisting of sheer cliff faces, deep gorges and thick scrub, they presented a formidable obstacle to expansion in colonial New South Wales. Several convicts and European explorers had attempted to find a passage through the mountains in the first decade of the nineteenth century, but most had little success. In 1813 George Blaxland, William Lawson and William Charles Wentworth found a path through the Blue Mountains by following a line of mountain ridges. Their discovery led to the expansion into the interior of New South Wales. Using information provided by their expedition, surveyor William Cox built a road that crossed the Blue Mountains. Over time, an increasing number of colonists travelled across the mountains and established settlements. This led to the displacement of the Aboriginal people who inhabited the area and to disputes about the land.
Background
Europeans first settled in the colony of New South Wales in 1788. Within a few years, the colony was in need of more land for farming and grazing in order to support settlement; however, they were unable to expand westward due to the Blue Mountains. Several adventurers sought a way across the mountains in order to expand the colony's territory, and convicts also attempted to cross the mountains in search of freedom. These explorers and convicts included Francis Barrallier, George Caley and John Wilson. Barrallier, a French surveyor and cartographer, led an expedition into the Blue Mountains in 1802. On 25 November 1802, he successfully crossed the Blue Mountains after travelling through a pass between Mount Kauto (Mount Meyer) and the Myanga Mountains. During his journey, he carefully measured and mapped out his trail and drew a map that was used by later explorers. Caley, a British botanist, made several excursions into the Blue Mountains; in 1804 he reached Mount Banks, which he named after his patron. Wilson, a former convict, lived among Aboriginal people after serving his sentence. He learned the native trails, and historians believe he crossed the Blue Mountains at least twice before 1813.
Pastoralist Gregory Blaxland owned land near Eastwood and was eager for more land as a drought and insect infestation had damaged his pastureland. He had petitioned the governor of New South Wales for additional land but had been denied, as the only land grants being made were for farming, because of the limited land available for growing crops to support the settlers. In 1810 Blaxland made several excursions to the Blue Mountains in search of a passage through them, hoping to find pastureland beyond them. He then petitioned the governor and received permission to form an expedition to the Blue Mountains. He was joined by William Lawson, a landowner and trained surveyor, and William Charles Wentworth, a young man who had recently returned to the colony after being educated in England. Using information from previous explorers, the team planned to find a way across the Blue Mountains by following the mountain ridges that ran between the river valleys.
The Expedition
At 4 p.m. on 11 May 1813, the expedition set out from Blaxland's farm at South Creek, near St Marys. It consisted of Blaxland, Lawson, Wentworth, guide James Burne, three convict servants, four horses and five dogs. (One convict was Samuel Fairs; the names of the other two men are unknown.) They headed for the foothills, where they camped their first night. The following morning, the men left camp, leaving their horses behind, and forged a path through the thick scrub. They marked the trees as they went along. After several hours, and having traversed a distance of about four miles, they returned to the camp, cutting the brush to clear the path. The next day, they led the horses through the cleared trail. They repeated this process for twenty-one days. On the twenty-first day, they reached the top of a high hill (later named Mount Blaxland) and viewed a vast expanse of land on the other side of the mountains. Consisting of forests and grasslands, it appeared to be suitable pastureland and sufficient to satisfy the colony's needs for several decades.
As the team was running low on supplies and several men were ill, they chose not to descend the mountain. Instead, they returned to St Marys. They arrived seven days later, on 6 June. News of their discovery of a passage through Blue Mountains was met with wide attention in Sydney.
Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth each kept a journal of the expedition. Lawson recorded detailed information about the trail, including distances and compass readings, as well as the landforms and landscapes they encountered. Wentworth wrote about the land and its resources and drew pictures of the animals and flora they saw. Blaxland described the expedition and published his journal in 1823.
Impact
After the expedition team returned, Governor Lachlan Macquarie tasked assistant surveyor-general George William Evans with surveying the expedition's route so that a road could be built. He completed the task in November and then crossed the Blue Mountains and travelled as far as the Macquarie and Lachlan Rivers. With the aid of several convicts, William Cox built a road along the route, starting construction on 7 July 1814 and completing it on 7 January 1815.
In April 1815 Governor Macquarie and a party of forty-nine people travelled across the Blue Mountains on the newly constructed road. Macquarie selected a site in the plains on the eastern side of the mountains for a new settlement and named it Bathurst.
The road led to additional exploration and the rapid development of the west as adventurers and settlers poured over the mountains. Lawson led the first stock of cattle across the mountains in July 1815. Other pastoralists soon followed with their livestock and settled in the open plains.
In 1814 Governor Macquarie honoured Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth for being the first Europeans to cross the Blue Mountains—despite the fact they had not crossed the mountains, were not the first to do so and had not claimed to be the first. They developed legendary status, and the centenary of their crossing was marked with much fanfare.
The expansion into the area beyond the mountains had a deleterious effect on the Wiradjuri nation, an Aboriginal group that had lived there for centuries before the 1813 crossing. By 1824 more than a thousand European settlers were living in Bathurst. After hostilities broke out between the Aboriginal people and the settlers, Governor Ralph Darling declared martial law. The military commenced an attack against the Wiradjuri, known as the Bathurst War, resulting in the deaths of many Wiradjuri and leading to their retreat from the area.
Bibliography
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"Blue Mountains Crossing." Defining Moments in Australian History, National Museum Australia, www.nma.gov.au/online‗features/defining‗moments/featured/blue‗mountains. Accessed 26 Nov. 2016.
Cox, Richard. William Cox: Blue Mountains Road Builder and Pastoralist. Rosenberg, 2012.
"Crossing the Blue Mountains." State Library of New South Wales, 6 May 2014, www2.sl.nsw.gov.au/archive/discover‗collections/history‗nation/exploration/blue‗mountains. Accessed 26 Nov. 2016.
Day, Alan. Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of Australia. Scarecrow, 2003.
"Early Explorers—Surveying an Ancient Land." Australia.gov.au, Australian Government, 20 Apr. 2016, www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/early-explorers-surveying. Accessed 26 Nov. 2016.
Lawson, William. "Journal of an Expedition Across the Blue Mountains, 11 May – 6 June 1813, by William Lawson." State Library of New South Wales, www2.sl.nsw.gov.au/archive/discover‗collections/history‗nation/exploration/blue‗mountains/lawson/lawson.html. Accessed 26 Nov. 2016.
Smith, Matt. "200 Years On: Crossing the Blue Mountains." Australian Geographic, 14 May 2013, www.australiangeographic.com.au/travel/destinations/2013/05/200-years-on-crossing-the-blue-mountains. Accessed 26 Nov. 2016.
Upton, Suzanne. "Westward, Ho! Crossing the Blue Mountains." State Records—Digital Gallery, State Archives & Records, NSW Government, gallery.records.nsw.gov.au/index.php/galleries/westward-ho-a-trip-over-the-blue-mountains/westward-ho-crossing-the-blue-mountains. Accessed 26 Nov. 2016.
Wentworth, William Charles. "Journal of an Expedition Across the Blue Mountains, 11 May – 6 June 1813, by William Charles Wentworth." State Library of New South Wales, www2.sl.nsw.gov.au/archive/discover‗collections/history‗nation/exploration/blue‗mountains/wentworth/index.html. Accessed 26 Nov. 2016.