European Settlers The first European settlers arrived at Sydney Cove in 1788 and after being restricted to the land between the coast and the Great Dividing Range to the west, they sought to expand the colony. Early explorers conquered the Great Dividing Range and 25 years later a vast river system was discovered. This prompted further exploration of the rivers to determine if they flowed into an inland sea or turned south and flowed into the ocean.

Hamilton Hume and William Hovell were the first known Europeans to see the River Murray, near Albury on 16 November 1824. The name Hume was given to the river in honour of Hume’s father, Andrew. However, Captain Charles Sturt and Major Thomas Mitchell explored the Murray and Darling in 1829, and in 1830 named the river Murray in honour of Sir George Murray, Secretary of State for the Colonies. A publication by Sturt in 1832 indirectly resulted in the establishment of South Australia in 1836.

Between 1840 and 1850 squatters settled on the river frontage and sheep and cattle were introduced to the Murray Valley. In the 1840s all land along the Murray had been taken over for grazing.

The River was first used by European settlers as a means of transportation. In 1853 the first two iron paddle steamers, PS Mary Ann and Lady Augusta were built to navigate the River after the Governor of South Australia offered a reward for the first steamboat to travel from Goolwa upstream to the Darling Junction. This was to help promote Adelaide as an important port for the riverboat trade.

The construction of steamers opened up large areas in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. They provided a source of supply and contact with the outside world for many settlers. Steamboats allowed for the faster transportation of larger, heavier supplies to be brought into the new colonies, which could not have been achieved economically or physically using bullock teams. The paddle steamers turned the River into an inland highway and contributed enormously to settlement and development of the adjacent land.

Almost the entire Basin had been explored and occupied by Europeans within 50 years of the crossing of the Blue Mountains. The Gold discoveries of the 1850s brought a new wave of population growth and this in turn led to widespread agricultural development. In the 1860s steam boats regularly serviced all accessible towns on the River.

During early settlement, River Red Gum was the universal timber and was used for slab huts, bridges, carts and joinery. The timber played an important role in river traffic as it provided wood to be used for fuel and boats, in mining and the development of railways. It was also used for wharves, blocks for roadways and fencing timber.

By 1878 railways in South Australia linked Morgan with the port of Adelaide, which came to replace Goolwa as the main end port. In the following year a new road bridge was built at Murray Bridge which was also linked to Adelaide by rail. Five years later the railway was extended over the road bridge and Murray Bridge became the major shipping terminal below Morgan.

In the 1880s the introduction of irrigation brought with it new developments and an increased demand for a reliable supply of water. Dams and weirs were constructed to help with the demand for water and an extensive irrigation supply and disposal system was also developed.

Railway lines took over the steamboat industry at the turn of the century, as they linked many river towns with the larger cities. This debilitated the river-borne transport and the ports along the river. The paddleboat era lasted from 1853 to 1883 until the railways took over as a cheaper, faster and more reliable form of transport. Since the river was navigable for only 8 months of the year on average, the railways offered a more reliable form of transport.

As the steamboats opened up the inland for settlement it also opened up a distinctly different and new environment which the settlers were unfamiliar with. The development of a European way of life resulted in unintentional degradation of many of the River’s natural resources. This lack of knowledge about soil, climate, and geology of the Murray Basin has led to serious environmental problems through salinity, rising water tables and vegetation clearances.

Content sourced from Majestic Murray User Guide 2nd Edition 2001

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