Myths and Mysteries of the - Australian History Mysteries

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Activity page10BExtractsEmpATHy wordsMay 20 They proceeded with the horses nearly five miles, and encamped at noon at the head of aswamp about three acres in extent, covered with the same coarse rushy grass as the last station,with a stream of water running through it. The horses were obliged to feed on the swamp grass, asnothing better could be found for them. The ridge along which their course lay now became wider andmore rocky, but was still covered with brush and small crooked timber, except at the heads of thedifferent streams of water which ran down the side of the mountain, where the land was swampy andclear of trees. The track of scarcely any animal was to be seen, and very few birds. One man was heretaken dangerously ill with a cold.May 21 In the beginning of the night the dogs ran off and barked violently. At the same timesomething was distinctly heard to run through the brushwood, which they supposed to be one of thehorses got loose; but they had reason to believe afterwards that they had been in great danger — thatthe natives had followed their track, and advanced on them in the night, intending to have spearedthem by the light of their fire, but that the dogs drove them off.May 28 In the evening they contrived to get their horses down the mountain by cutting a small trenchwith a hoe, which kept them from slipping, where they again tasted fresh grass for the first time sincethey left the forest land on the other side of the mountain. They were getting into miserable condition.May 29 Part of the descent was so steep that the horses could but just keep their footing without aload, so that, for some way, the party were obliged to carry the packages themselves. The dogs killeda kangaroo, which was very acceptable, as the party had lived on salt meat since they caught the last.Blaxland’s journalnhttp://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/b/blaxland/gregory/b64j/part1.html#part1May 31 In the afternoon they ascended its summit, from whence they descried all around, forest orgrass land, sufficient in extent in their opinion, to support the stock of the colony for the next thirtyyears. This was the extreme point of their journey. Mr. Blaxland and one of the men nearly lost theparty to-day by going too far in the pursuit of a kangaroo.They now conceived that they had sufficiently accomplished the design of their undertaking, havingsurmounted all the difficulties which had hitherto prevented the interior of the country from beingexplored, and the colony from being extended. They had partly cleared, or, at least, marked out, aroad by which the passage of the mountain might easily be effected. Their provisions were nearlyexpended, their clothes and shoes were in very bad condition, and the whole party were ill with bowelcomplaints. These considerations determined them therefore, to return home by the track they came.June 4 They arrived at the end of their marked track, and encamped in the forest land where they hadcut the grass for their horses. One of the horses fell this day with his load, quite exhausted, and waswith difficulty got on, after having his load put on the other horses.June 5 This was the most unpleasant and fatiguing they had experienced. The track not beingmarked, they had great difficulty in finding their way back to the river, which they did not reach tillfour o’clock p.m. They then once more encamped for the night to refresh themselves and the horses.They had no provisions now left except a little flour, but procured some from the settlement on theother side of the river.June 6 They crossed the river after breakfast, and reached their homes, all in good health.4 Why do you think theexplorers succeeded?Consider each of thefollowing as possible factors:> luck> skill> logic> planning and preparation> personal qualities of theexplorers> prior knowledge> other factors?5 Look back at the list of qualities or characteristics that you created inresponse to question 1 on the previous page. Which of these can you identifyin these three explorers? Are there others you would now add to your list?6 Add any information to your summary table onactivity page 3A.7 Write a brief paragraph or do a comic strip sketch foryour own history textbook (in box 6 of activity page 3C)to explain to readers what the journey was like for the explorers.The crossing of the Blue Mountainswas a difficult task: True or False?34Myths and Mysteries of the Crossing of the Blue Mountains
Activity page 11AWere Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth really the firstInvestigation 7 to cross the Blue Mountains?Everything you have looked at so far in this unit has discussed Blaxland,Lawson and Wentworth as the first to cross the Blue Mountains.But, were they?Some historians have suggested that there might be others who could makethat claim. So, we need to investigate this possibility.First, let’s be clear what we are looking for. What does ‘crossing’ mean?1 Here are four possibilities. Discuss each one.A It means making it all the way to the other side of the mountains.B It means making it far enough across the mountains to know theother side is close, but not actually arriving there.C It means making it far enough across the mountains to suspectthe journey has ended, but not to be certain.D It means going across the mountains, returning, and creating apath that others can follow.Keep these in mind as you look at the following claims. As you readthe information you can follow the different claims on the map on thenext page.2 As you read the claims, make a short summary note beside each;for example, This candidate might be considered the first to crossthe Blue Mountains because …Candidate 2: John WilsonIn 1797, a former convict, John Wilson, recounted tales of his exploits inthe bush to Governor Hunter and Judge Collins. He claimed to have beenupwards of 160 km in every direction around Sydney, and described some ofthe landscape and animals he had seen. Whilst his stories were consideredsuspect, some details were recorded by Collins. In retrospect, it appearslikely that Wilson was telling the truth.Wilson appears to have reached the granite country of the upper Cox’s Rivervalley near Hartley. The two main Aboriginal ‘highways’ were the Bilpin Ridgefrom Richmond, and Cox’s River valley from the Burragorang Valley. Otherrecords offer clues that he followed the Cox’s River route. This is, in fact, theeasiest route through the Blue Mountains, and completely avoids the needto cross over them. A third possibility is via the Colo River gorge, and someevidence suggests that Wilson may even have travelled all three!In January 1798 Wilson, John Price and others crossed the Nepean Riverand moved south-west towards the present site of Mittagong. There theyturned west and found a route along the ridge where today the WombeyanCaves Road is located. In the process they found a way to go west of themountains, by going around them instead of across them. In March ofthe same year, Wilson and Price ventured to the Camden area, and thencontinued further south until they discovered Thirlmere Lakes, finally almostreaching the present site of Goulburn.It is possible that the accomplishments of this expedition were suppressedby Hunter, who may not have wanted convicts to know that there was arelatively easy way out of Sydney. Wilson’s life came to an abrupt end atthe age of 30, when he was killed by Aborigines after abducting one of theirwomen for his personal use.But, he had accomplished much as an explorer. He was never recognisedas the first person to cross the mountains, possibly because his Cox’sRiver journey could not be verified, while his route west of Mittagong mayhave been the ‘long way around’ for a colony that had its eyes fixed on thesandstone fortress west of the Nepean.http://infobluemountains.net.au/history/crossing_wil.htmCandidate 1:Matthew EveringhamSee the film‘virtual visit’from 05:50 to 08:45In October/November 1795 MatthewEveringham, with two other settlers(William Reed and John Ramsay)attempted to find a route across theBlue Mountains.Working from Everingham’sdescription of their journey, localexperts have determined that theyreached either Mt Wilson, Mt Tomahor Mt Irvine. They reached a pointwhere they could see good countryto the west but did not proceed anyfurther as food supplies were runningshort. They were not more than oneday’s trek from crossing the BlueMountains when they turned back.This was 18 years before Blaxland,Lawson and Wentworth finally madetheir crossing in 1813.Their plan to return for a furtherattempt never eventuated. To helpprevent the escape of convicts, thecolonial government did not publicisethe possibility of land to the west anddiscouraged exploration.www.firstfleetershunter.com.au/uploads/Family%20History/Matthew%20Everingham.pdfThis candidate might be considered the firstto cross the Blue Mountains because …This candidate might be considered the firstto cross the Blue Mountains because …Myths and Mysteries of the Crossing of the Blue Mountains35
Page 1 and 2: Myths and Mysteries of theCrossing
Page 3 and 4: ContentsTeacher’s guide to using
Page 6 and 7: This is done in ways that suit Year
Page 8: Activity page 1Prepare to explore!Y
Page 12: Activity page3CYour textbook accoun
Page 16 and 17: Activity page5BCMark Sherborne, Des
Page 18 and 19: Activity page6AInvestigation 2 How
Page 20 and 21: Activity page6CSo, here you are, it
Page 22 and 23: Activity page7BSource 3 From a comi
Page 24 and 25: Activity page8AInvestigation 4 Who
Page 26 and 27: Activity page8CWilliam Lawson (1774
Page 28 and 29: Activity page8EWere there others in
Page 30 and 31: Activity page9BNEWNES PLATEAUBILPIN
Page 32 and 33: Activity page9DHere is an illustrat
Page 36 and 37: Activity page11BBased on informatio
Page 38 and 39: Activity page11DCandidate 6: Aborig
Page 40 and 41: Activity page12AInvestigation 8 Wha
Page 42 and 43: Activity page12CSource 7Bathurst wa
Page 44 and 45: Activity page13BBlue Mountains Look
Page 46 and 47: ACTIVITY PAGE13BGregory Blaxland’
Page 48: Country Women’s Association of NS

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