This week Roy decided to take you on a visit to somewhere which you may well have driven past many times, but which you probably never think too much about. You might not even know its significance! So this week Roy decided that the Explorers Tree in the Blue Mountains was the perfect place to visit. The Explorers Tree is located on Pulpit Hill just West of Katoomba (NSW) along the Great Western Highway.
The Explorers Tree is, according to the stories, where the first successful expedition of explorers to cross the Blue Mountains, thereby opening up the West for settlement, Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson, left tangible evidence of their crossing. According to the various stories, Lawson, or even all three carved their initials into the tree on their crossing. Today, the initials are long gone, and there is lively debate as to whether they were ever there!
The first recorded reference to the tree's markings is in 1867, more than 50 years after the expedition in 1813 had been completed. It wasn't until the early 1870's that Eccleston Du Faur, who worked for the Department of Lands, noted the existence of the tree and created a cairn of stones around the base. At the time he noted that there was only one initial on the tree 'L', and that the tree was 'not quite dead' but had no bark to conceal any other letters. Over time, the letters literally disappeared and reappeared on the tree, with different letters being recorded and seen. The difference in the various stories adds to the debate as to whether the initials were ever there, but regardless, the tree, or what remains of it, remains as a symbol of the 'first' crossing of the Blue Mountains, early exploration and the opening up of the lands beyond. If you would like to learn more about the debate, click here.
Now, you might have noticed that I questioned whether Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson were actually the first Europeans to have crossed the Blue Mountains, and that is because this is an issue up for debate too! Clearly, the Aboriginal people had been well aware for many years how to cross the mountains, but there were other Europeans who had managed to either cross the mountains or get around them, making it possible to open up the lands beyond. They just weren't the sort of Europeans that the Government wanted responsible for discovering a route! In 1798 a convict called John Wilson was sent by the Government to end rumours of white settlement in the West. He didn't cross the mountains, but he did find a route around them. At this time though it wasn't in the Governments best interests to open up the West, so it remained 'undiscovered'. Besides, Wilson was an convict!
In 1802, Francis Barrallier, a refugee from the French Revolution set out with his party to cross the mountains, or penetrate as far into them as he could. He got so close to crossing, that it is difficult to truthfully say that he failed. Again though, it wasn't in the Governments best interests, and besides Barrallier was French! Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson crossed the mountains at a time when it was useful for the West to be opened up, so they get all the credit. If you would like to learn more about the exploration of the Blue Mountains, or read accounts the of various crossings, including that made by Blaxland, Wentwoth and Lawson, click here.
