What did John McDouall Stuart find?

Answer 1

John McDouall Stuart made some discoveries which were extremely valuable, bringing long-term benefits to Australia.

Stuart's first experience in exploration was when he was employed as a draughtsman by Captain Charles Sturt on an expedition into the desert interior. He used the skills he developed from this experience to further his own exploration ventures, discovering more of what lay beyond Adelaide and other settled areas of the colony of South Australia. He was able to add much more information by way of features to the map of inland Australia.

Stuart was the first recorded explorer to successfully cross Australia from south to north, and back again, returning alive. Because he led a total of five expeditions in the attempt to be the first to cross the continent from south to north, he developed an extensive knowledge of the inland deserts, and this helped tremendously in charting the interior of the continent. He finally succeeded on his fifth attempt, reaching the northern waters at Chambers Bay in July 1862.

This exploration had major benefits. South Australia had been a struggling colony, not having the same degree of good, fertile soil or large rivers that the other colonies had. Stuart's exploration brought South Australia (represented by Stuart) into the limelight and gave the colony new significance. Because of Stuart's success, South Australia was given control of the area of Australia now known as the Northern Territory. In particular, Stuart found a route for the building of the new Overland Telegraph Line from Adelaide to Darwin. This meant that messages from the rest of the world came into northern Australia and were then relayed to Adelaide first, from where they were relayed to other major centres in Australia.