Nathaniel Buchanan was an Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n pioneer pastoralist, drover

Drover (Australian)

A drover in Australia is a person, typically an experienced stockman, who moves livestock, usually sheep or cattle, "on the hoof" over long distances. Reasons for droving may include: delivering animals to a new owner's property, taking animals to market, or moving animals during a drought in...

 and explorer.

Early life

Buchanan was born near Dublin, and was of Scottish descent the son of Lieutenant Charles Henry Buchanan, and his wife Annie, née White. He arrived in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 with his parents in 1832, and as a young man was part owner with two brothers of Bald Blair station. In 1850 the brothers went to the California Gold Rush

California Gold Rush

The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...

, but returned to Australia after a short stay to find that their station had been mismanaged and lost in their absence. During the next few years Buchanan had much experience of overlanding.

Career

In 1859 Buchanan explored new country with William Landsborough, principally on the tributaries of the Fitzroy River

Fitzroy River (Queensland)

The Fitzroy River lies in Queensland, Australia. Its catchment covers an area of 142,665 square kilometres, making it the largest river catchment flowing to the eastern coast of Australia. The river is formed by the joining of the Mackenzie and Dawson rivers at Duaringa. The catchment stretches...

, Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, when both suffered many privations and were found just in time by a rescue party. Buchanan then joined Landsborough and others as owners of Bowen Downs station near Longreach, Queensland, which for a time prospered. However, a time came when cattle were almost unsaleable, and the price of wool dropped so low that the station had to be given up and Buchanan was practically penniless.

Buchanan made several explorations inland from Bowen Downs, including securing land near Burketown, Queensland

Burketown, Queensland

- Morning glory cloud :From the months of August to November, a rare meteorological phenomenon known as "Morning Glory" - long, tubular clouds, some up to 1000 km in length - is often observed in the skies above Burketown.....

.
In October 1877, with a companion, Sam Croker, Buchanan began to investigate the country from the known regions round the Rankine to the overland telegraph line, around 500 miles (800 km) away. They discovered much good new land, part of the Barkly Tableland, and has since carried some of the largest herds in Australia. Throughout the 1870s and 1880s Buchanan did a large amount of pioneering, working principally in northern Queensland and the Northern Territory

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory is a federal territory of Australia, occupying much of the centre of the mainland continent, as well as the central northern regions...

. He had another property, Wave Hill, for a period, but he lost this in 1894 on account of a great fall in cattle prices and the difficulty in getting markets. His son, Gordon Buchanan, had taken up land at Flora valley in 1887 and Buchanan now established this as his headquarters. About two years later, with another man and an aboriginal boy

Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....

, he started with camel

Camel

A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as humps on its back. There are two species of camels: the dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the bactrian has two humps. Dromedaries are native to the dry desert areas of West Asia,...

s and equipment provided by the South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

n government to find a stock route from northern Queensland. He went from Oodnadatta

Oodnadatta, South Australia

Oodnadatta, South Australia, is a small town surrounded by an area of with cattle stations in arid pastoral rangelands close to the Simpson Desert, north of Adelaide and 112 m above sea level. It can be reached by an unsealed road from Coober Pedy or via the unsealed Oodnadatta Track from...

 up the line to Tennant Creek

Tennant Creek, Northern Territory

Tennant Creek is a town located in the Northern Territory of Australia. It is the fifth largest town in the Northern Territory and it is located on the Stuart Highway, just south of the intersection with the western terminus of the Barkly Highway....

, and then westward to Sturt's Creek. About 40 miles (64 km) from Hooker's Creek he sighted the hills now named Buchanan Hills, and next day came to a branch of Hooker's Creek. Then he went to Hale's Creek and the Sturt, and then to Flora valley. Attempts were made to find a practicable stock route to the west with no success. Returning to Flora Creek he prepared a report for the South Australian government which added much to the knowledge of the country, though Buchanan had failed in his main object. In 1899 Buchanan, now 73 years of age, bought a farm on Dungowan Creek, 22 miles from Tamworth

Tamworth, New South Wales

Tamworth is a city in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Peel River, Tamworth, which contains an estimated population of 47,595 people, is the major regional centre for southern New England and in the local government area of Tamworth Regional Council. The city...

 and he died there in 1901 still working. Nat was buried in the general cemetery at Walcha, New South Wales

Walcha, New South Wales

Walcha is a parish and town at the south-eastern edge of the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia.The town serves as the seat of Walcha Shire. Walcha is located 425 kilometres by road from Sydney at the intersection of the Oxley Highway and Thunderbolts Way...

. He married in 1863 Catherine Gordon who survived him, along with a son.

Legacy

Buchanan was a great bushman and a good explorer. He knew the country from northern Queensland to Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

 very well. He rarely made much money for himself though he was a pioneer on Bowen Downs, on the Barkly Tableland, on the Roper River, and on the Victoria River, and pioneered the trail from the Kimberleys towards Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

. When he died, he owned almost no land, but he made possibilities for other men who in many cases reaped where he had sown. His brother William

William Buchanan (pastoralist)

William Frederick Buchanan was an Australian pastoralist and gold prospector.Buchanan was born in Dublin to Lieutenant Charles Henry Buchanan and Annie White. On 16 January 1837 the Statesman arrived in Sydney Harbour with the Buchanans and their five sons on board...

had also been a significant pastoralist pioneer.