Stories of the settlement of the Mallee.
The land the government didn’t want and even built a 6 foot fence around it.
The Mallee has had a chequered past, with the lack of water holes even restricting the movement of the aboriginal tribes.
Sturt was the first white man to attempt to cross the Mallee when he attempted to cross south from the Murray River in 1830 but he failed and turned back.
In 1836 Major Mitchell travelled along the boundary of The Mallee and was so unimpressed that he reported back to the Government that is was a most undesirable place. Another failure of an explorer that couldn’t conquer or even cross The Mallee.
In 1838 Eyre made an attempt to cross the Mallee and discovered a large fresh water lake that he named Lake Hindmarsh in honour of the Governor of South Australia who had sent him on the expedition but he failed to find Lake Albacutya, and due to a lack of water he turned back. Yet another failure by a famous pioneer.
All of these men came with large teams, government backing and finances yet failed and turned back beaten by The Mallee.
In these pages you will find the stories of the men and women who succeeded where these greats of history failed. They didn’t have government backing they just had their wits and a desire to conquer this untamed land.
Their names are not recorded in the history books. They have not been recognised for their efforts, yet they succeeded where the famous failed.
These are their stories.
