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BY 1810 THE POPULATION OF AUSTRALIAN HAD RISEN TO 11,500. GRANTS OF LAND WERE ATTRACTING MORE FREE SETTLERS AND WITH THIS GROWING POPULATION IT BECAME NECESSARY TO INCREASE THE SIZE OF THE SETTLEMENT. WHAT LAY BEYOND THE HUGE MOUNTAIN RANGE THAT HAD REPELLED ANY ATTEMPTS AT CROSSING?. AMONGST THE CONVICTS THE BELIEF WAS THAT IF YOU COULD CROSS THE MOUNTAINS, YOU COULD WALK TO CHINA, OTHERS BELIEVED THAT A "UTOPIA" EXISTED, WHERE ALL WHITE MEN WERE FREE. |
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OPENING UP THE LAND |
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AS EARLY AS 1789 ATTEMPTS HAD BEEN MADE TO CROSS THIS MOUNTAIN RANGE. IN 1804 ANOTHER ATTEMPT WAS MADE, GEORGE COLEY AND "FOUR OF THE STRONGEST MEN OF THE COLONY" SPENT 12 DAYS CROSSING THE MOUNTAINS BUT FAILED DUE THE THE INACCESSIBLE COUNTRY THAT THEY BELIEVED LAY AHEAD FOR HUNDREDS OF MILES. IT WASN'T FOR ANOTHER EIGHT YEARS THAT ANOTHER EXPEDITION WAS MOUNTED. ON MAY 11TH 1813 GEORGE BLAXLAND, WILLIAM LAWSON AND WILLIAM WENTWORTH SET OF FROM PENRITH WITH CONVICT LABOUR, HORSES AND DOGS. |
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FOR THREE WEEKS THEY HACKED THEIR WAY THROUGH THE DENSE BUSH BY DAY, AT NIGHT THEY FEARED ATTACK FROM THE NATIVES. FINALLY THEY REACHED WHAT IS NOW KNOWN AS MT BLAXLAND. BLAXLAND WROTE IN HIS DIARY THAT THEY SAW ENOUGH MEADOWS AND FORESTS TO SUPPORT THE STOCK OF THE COLONY FOR THE NEXT 30 YEARS. LAWSON HAD A DIFFERENT VIEWPOINT, HE WROTE THAT THE AREA WOULD BE A SAFE RETREAT FOR THE INHABITANTS AND THEIR STOCK IN CASE OF INVASION. |
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A TRIUMPHANT RETURN TO SYDNEY WAS EXPECTED , BUT THE OFFICIAL RECEPTION WAS SKEPTICAL. THE GOVERNOR OF THE DAY, MACQUARIE SENT AN ASSISTANT SURVEYOR, GEORGE EVANS TO FOLLOW THE TRACKS TO SEE WHETHER BLAXLAND AND CO HAD REALLY BEEN SUCCESSFUL. EVANS HIRED JAMES BURNS WHO HAD TRAVELLED WITH BLAXLAND AND HIS PARTY. EVANS FOLLOWED THE TRAIL AND ALONG THE WAY NAMED BLAXLAND VIEWPOINT OF THE MEADOWS AS MT BLAXLAND, BUT EVANS WENT FURTHER THAN BLAXLAND'S EXPEDITION AND DESCRIBED THE LAND HE SAW AS |
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"THE FINEST I HAVE YET SEEN, THE GRASS INTERMINGLED WITH THE WHITE DAISY, AS IN ENGLAND" |
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EVANS EXPLORED 3O KILOMETRES PAST THE PRESENT SITE OF BATHURST. ON EVAN'S RETURN, MACQUARIE COMMISSIONED A ROAD BE CUT THROUGH THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. MACQUAIRE PROMISED FREEDOM FOR ALL CONVICTS WORKING ON THE ROAD , IF THE ROAD WAS FINISHED IN SIX MONTHS. SO IN SIX MONTHS MACQUARIE AND HIS WIFE TRAVELLED ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS TO THE NEW TOWN OF BATHURST. |
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