Early Cattlemen

The first recorded journey to the Bogong High Plains by a white man was by John Mitchell in 1843, who crossed the Murray River near Thurgoona and made his approach up the valley of the Kiewa River in the company of friendly aborigines. Jim Brown and Johnny Wells, two skilled bushmen, first cut the track from the High Plains to the northeast along the spur, which leads north from Mt. Fainter towards Tawonga. They also pioneered the route that leads over Mt. Hotham into the Ovens Valley and this early track was much used in the early 1850s by gold miners travelling to the Omeo fields. In those early days Jim Brown and Johnny Wells had the Bogong High Plains to themselves, and they visited every part of it naming most of the prominent features. Mt. Feathertop, The Fainter, The Niggerheads (renamed to The Jiatmathangs in 2009), The Razorback, Blowhard, Bucketty Plain, Rocky Valley, Pretty Valley, The Rocky Knobs and Mt. Jim were all named by the two stockmen. Local cattlemen went on to cut tracks up many of the access spurs to the lush summer pastures.