OTD 31.1 January 31st Traditional Cache

OTD - 31:1 

Perhaps you want a smiley for every day of the year or maybe a birthday smiley. For whatever reason these 12 mini monthly power trails are here to be found. Most are easily located, with an occasional sneaky one in the mix, sat lock can be difficult in some areas.

On This Day - January 31st

Australian History

1839 -  Gawler, South Australia's first inland country town, is established. 

South Australia is the only Australian state to have been founded by free settlers, remaining entirely free of convicts during its early history. The site of its capital, Adelaide, was originally determined by Captain Collet Barker in 1831 and subsequently surveyed by Colonel William Light five years later.

Gawler is a Local Government Area (LGA) located 44km north of Adelaide. The year after Colonel Light surveyed the capital, he and his assistant, Boyle Travers Finniss, travelled through the area north of Adelaide. Light saw the benefits of establishing a town which would be the gateway to the north, and to the Murray River, the water and transport lifeline for South Australia. Light's recommendation for a survey of the area was initially not taken up, but Henry Dundas Murray, John Reid and a syndicate of ten other colonists noted Light's recommendation and applied for a Special Survey of 4000 acres (1618 hectares). Following this, Light was commissioned to survey the town, making it the only other settlement he surveyed apart from Adelaide. William Jacob then laid out the town from Light's plan. The town was officially established on 31 January 1839, and named Gawler after the then Governor of South Australia.

The first settler in Gawler was John Reid, one of those who applied for the "special survey". He arrived in February 1839 to take up his selection near the North Para River. Reid's property became a stopover for new pioneers to the area and overlanders from New South Wales. Gawler developed slowly until the discovery of copper at nearby Kapunda in 1842 sent its growth soaring. When the copper mines were established at Burra in the north, Gawler's importance as a trade and stopping centre increased. The establishment of agricultural areas to the north cemented Gawler's position as a permanent settlement.