South-to-north crossing of Australia (John McDouall Stuart)
Travesía de Australia de sur a norte (John McDouall Stuart)
- Date
- 1861-1862 · confidence high
- Place
- Chambers Bay, Northern Territory, Australia
- Credited to
- John McDouall Stuart
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What was discovered
After several attempts, Stuart crossed Australia's interior from Adelaide to the north coast and returned alive. He traced the route of the future telegraph and railway, and opened the continent's centre to pastoralism.
Burke and Wills reached the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1861 but died on the return; Stuart was the first to reach the north coast and come back. The end point was Chambers Bay.
What it led to
- the 1872 telegraph line that linked Australia to the world
- pastoral settlement of the Northern Territory