Map showing 1813 route across the Blue Mountains

In 1813 Gregory Blaxland, William Charles Wentworth and William Lawson were the first Europeans to cross the Blue Mountains, part of what later became known as the Great Dividing Range. They were looking for new farming land for British colonists in Sydney. The crossing opened up the inland of Australia to pastoralism and led to the establishment of the inland settlement of Bathurst. It also resulted in Aboriginal people losing their traditional lands.