Bogong Jack, bush ranger, horse thief and mountain explorer is credited with blazing stock routes across the Alps from Gippsland to the Kiewa Valley. He "backloaded" his stolen stock, profiting on both sides of the mountains.He was last seen at his mountain hideaway, Bogong Jacks Yards on the Fainters, before his mysterious disappearance.Baron Von Meuller, is greatly respected as an explorer of the High Country, traversing vast tracks of country with his packhorses in the 1850's. He gathered and identified much of the known native plant species of the High Country, was responsible for the creation of the State herbarium, built the Melbourne Botanical Gardens and was made a Baron for his services to science. It has also been suggested that he was responsible for the introduction of blackberries to the High Country, planting them as a ready source of wild food. Evidently he didn't foresee that they would thrive so in the mountains.Eugen Von Guerard made several journeys to the High Country to paint the grand mountain landscapes. To get some idea of how the country looked before the valley's were cleared, take a look at his "Spring in the Valley of the Mitta Mitta", housed at the National Gallery of Victoria.