Edward John Eyre, together with his aboriginal companion Wylie, was the first European to traverse the coastline of the Great Australian Bight and the Nullarbor Plain by land in 1840–1841. The expedition travelled almost 3,200-kilometre from Port Lincoln, South Australia, to Albany, Western Australia. Eyre had originally led the expedition with John Baxter and three aboriginal people.
For his expeditions, Eyre was awarded the Royal Geographic Society gold medal and has had a number of geographical features named after him, including Lake Eyre and the Eyre Peninsula. Despite his crucial role, Wylie has not been so recognised, though he received a medal from the Western Australia Agricultural Society and a lifelong government pension. Eyre went on to become a colonial administrator, eventually returning to England, where he died in 1901.