Leichhardt, Ludwig (1813-1848), was a German-born explorer. His disappearance while on a journey across Australia remains a mystery. Leichhardt tried to find a practical route from Moreton Bay (now Brisbane ) to Perth . He left Moreton Bay in February 1848 with a party of seven men, including two Aboriginal guides. Historians believe that the expedition was ill-equipped, because Leichhardt assumed that his party could live off the countryside. Leichhardt was last heard from in April 1848. He and his party completely disappeared. During the next 90 years, nine major searches were organized to try to find traces of the party. Many minor searches were also organized. Some of them found bones and other relics. But none of them found definite evidence to link their discoveries with Leichhardt.
Many theories have been advanced to explain what happened to the party. According to one story, the party mutinied and killed Leichhardt. All the mutineers were later killed by Aboriginal people except for one member, Adolf Classen, who lived on among the Aboriginal people. Some historians believe that Leichhardt and his party could have died in sudden floods in the Channel Country in Queensland. Other historians are of the opinion that Leichhardt and his party probably died of thirst.
In 1852, the first expedition set out to look for the party. It was led by Hovenden Hely, who had been a member of an earlier Leichhardt expedition. He searched wide areas of western Queensland but found no trace of the missing party. In 1871, the Queensland government sent J. M. Gilmour, a subinspector of police, on two expeditions to investigate reports that a European was living with Aboriginal people. Gilmour found several skeletons, pieces of clothing, and a tomahawk. However, he found no trace of a European living with Aboriginal people.
The last search party set out in 1938 under Sir Grenfell Price. The searchers went into the Simpson Desert to look for remains. They found some bones and a coin dated 1841, the year Leichhardt left England. However, nothing they found could be conclusively linked with Leichhardt.
Leichhardt was born on Oct. 23, 1813, at Trebatsch in Prussia (now in Germany). His full name was Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt. He studied at the universities of Berlin and Gottingen. Leichhardt went to Australia to study its wildlife. He landed in Sydney in 1842.
In 1843, he journeyed overland from Newcastle to Moreton Bay. On Oct. 1, 1844, he left the Darling Downs with a party of nine men on an overland expedition to Port Essington, near Darwin. The expedition was privately financed by Brisbane squatters and businesspeople who were anxious to find a new trade route to Port Essington. The expedition took with it provisions that were inadequate for the journey.
The path the expedition pursued was an uncertain one. It ran roughly parallel with the Queensland coast to the Burdekin River, northwest to the Mitchell River, southwest around the Gulf of Carpentaria to the Roper River, then northwest to Port Essington. Leichhardt knew so little about life in the bush (Australia’s remote countryside) that the expedition continually lost its way. Two of the party turned back shortly after the expedition set out. John Gilbert, another member, was killed when Aboriginal people attacked Leichhardt’s camp. Food was often in short supply. Seven men finally reached Port Essington on Dec. 17, 1845. They had traveled across more than 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) of country.
In 1846, Leichhardt attempted to cross the continent, from the Darling Downs in Queensland to the Swan River in Western Australia. He was forced to turn back.
