The Great Trek was a northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyond the Cape's British colonial administration. The Great Trek resulted from the culmination of tensions between rural descendants of the Cape's original European settlers, known collectively as Boers, and the British Empire. It was also reflective of an increasingly common trend among individual Boer communities to pursue an isolationist and semi-nomadic lifestyle away from the developing administrative complexities in Cape Town. Boers who took part in the Great Trek identified themselves as voortrekkers, meaning "pioneers", "pathfinders" in Dutch and Afrikaans.
The Battle of Blood River was fought on the bank of the Ncome River, in what is today KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa between 464 Voortrekkers ("Pioneers"), led by Andries Pretorius, and an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Zulu. Estimations of casualties amounted to over 3,000 of King Dingane's soldiers dead, including two Zulu princes competing with Prince Mpande for the Zulu throne. Three Voortrekker commando members were lightly wounded, including Pretorius.
The year 1838 was the most difficult period for the Voortrekkers from when they left the Cape Colony, till the end of the Great Trek. They faced many difficulties and much bloodshed before they found freedom and a safe homeland in their Republic of Natalia. This was only achieved after defeating the Zulu Kingdom, at the Battle of Blood River, which took place on Sunday 16 December 1838. This battle would not have taken place if the Zulu King had honoured the agreement that he had made with the Voortrekkers to live together peacefully. The Zulu king knew that they outnumbered the Voortrekkers and decided to overthrow them and that led to the Battle of Blood river.
Tweespruit is a small dairy farming town in the Free State province of South Africa. The town lies 27km east of Thaba Nchu and 47km north of Hobhouse.
Dealesville is a mixed farming town in the Free State province of South Africa and is surrounded by numerous salt pans. There are many natural springs in the vicinity, most notably Florisbad some 35 km from the town.
Heilbron is a small farming town in the Free State province of South Africa which services the cattle, dairy, sorghum, sunflower and maize industries. Raw stock beneficiation occurs in leisure foods, dairy products and stock feeds. It also serves as a dormitory town for the Gauteng metropolis.
Graskop is a small town in Mpumalanga province, South Africa. It was set up in the 1880s as a gold mining camp but it now serves as a tourist destination and the timber industry. “God’s Window”, a scenic view from the escarpment of the Lowveld below, is located outside the town. Graskop is 14 km south-east of Pilgrim's Rest and 28 km north of Sabie. It was laid out between 1880 and 1890 on a farm belonging to Abel Erasmus, Native Commissioner of the Transvaal Republic. The name is Afrikaans for grassy hillock. Originally it was a mining camp. It is the best place to view the "Edge of the Lowveld", with a sudden drop of 700 metres.
Delmas is a small maize farming town situated east of Johannesburg in Mpumalanga, South Africa. The town is located some 19 km north-east of Springs and 73 km south-east of Pretoria.
Mookgophong, also known as Naboomspruit, is a town in the Limpopo province of South Africa. The town is located approximately 42 km north-east of Modimolle and 51 km south-west of Mokopane.
Waterkloof is an affluent suburb of the city of Pretoria in the Gauteng province of South Africa, located to the east of the city centre. It is named after the original farm that stood there when Pretoria was founded in the 19th Century.
An ox-wagon or bullock wagon is a four-wheeled vehicle pulled by oxen. It was a traditional form of transport, especially in Southern Africa but also in New Zealand and Australia. Ox-wagons were also used in the United States. The first recorded use of an ox-wagon was around 1670, but they continue to be used in some areas up to modern times.
Petrus Lafras Uys (1797–1838) was a Voortrekker leader during the Great Trek.
Eerste River is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa and a suburb of the City of Cape Town. It forms part of the Oostenberg subregion of the city situated behind the Stellenbosch/Vlaeberg Hills on the eastern outskirts of the city..
A wagon fort, wagon fortress, wagenburg or corral, often referred to as circling the wagons, is a temporary fortification made of wagons arranged into a rectangle, circle, or other shape and possibly joined with each other to produce an improvised military camp. It is also known as a laager, especially in historical African contexts, and a tabor among the Cossacks.
Fraserburg is a town in the Karoo region of South Africa's Northern Cape province. It is located in the Karoo Hoogland Local Municipality. The town has some of the coldest winters in South Africa.
Riebeek West is a small town situated about 75 km north-east of Cape Town and 5 km north of its twin town Riebeek Kasteel in the Swartland area of the Western Cape, South Africa.
Van Rhynsdorp is a settlement in West Coast District Municipality in the Western Cape province of South Africa.
Riebeek East is a village in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, set 39 km west of Grahamstown. It is located in a hilly area, in the midst of game and sheep farming regions. It was founded in 1842, and initially named Riebeek after Jan van Riebeeck, one year after the local church was built. It was erected on a part of the farm Mooimeisjesfontein, that was subdivided and sold by the subsequent voortrekker leader Piet Retief.
Looking on Darkness is a 1973 novel by prominent Afrikaans novelist Andre Brink. The novel was the first Afrikaans book to be banned by the South African government.
Boysens is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, located around 3.2 km southwest of city hall.
