View source for Ludwig Leichhardt

{{Short description|German explorer of Australia (1813–1848)}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ludwig Leichhardt
| birth_name = Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt
| image = Ludwig Leichhardt.jpg
| alt = Portrait of Ludwig Leichhardt
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1813|10|23}}
| birth_place = [[Tauche|Sabrodt]], [[Kingdom of Prussia]]
| disappeared_date = {{Disappeared date and age|1848|4|3|1813|10|23|df=yes}}
| disappeared_place = [[Mount Abundance, Queensland|Mount Abundance]], [[Colony of New South Wales]]
| disappeared_status = 
| occupation = Explorer
}}

'''Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt''' ({{IPA|de|ˈfʁiːdʁɪç 'vɪlhɛlm 'lu:tvɪç 'laɪçhaːʁt}}; 23 October 1813 – {{c.|1848}}), known as '''Ludwig Leichhardt''',<ref name=adb>{{Cite Australian Dictionary of Biography |last =Erdos |first =Renee |title =Leichhardt, Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig (1813–1849) | pages =102–104 | url =http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020090b.htm | isbn =0-522-84236-4 | url-status =live | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20110612100641/http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A020090b.htm | archive-date =12 June 2011 }}</ref> was a German explorer and [[natural history|naturalist]], most famous for his exploration of northern and central Australia.<ref name="KenEastwood">Ken Eastwood, '[http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/cold-case-leichhardts-disappearance.htm 'Cold case: Leichhardt's disappearance', Australian Geographic] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100807003620/http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/cold-case-leichhardts-disappearance.htm |date=7 August 2010 }}, AG Online, accessed online 7 August 2010</ref>

==Early life==
Leichhardt was born on 23 October 1813 in the hamlet of Sabrodt near the village of Trebatsch, today part of [[Tauche]], in the Prussian [[Province of Brandenburg]] (now within the [[Federal Republic of Germany]]).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13118809 |title=FINDING LEICHHARDT. |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=12 September 1865 |access-date=30 April 2012 |page=8 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> He was the fourth son and sixth of the eight children of Christian Hieronymus Matthias Leichhardt, farmer and royal inspector and his wife Charlotte Sophie, ''née'' Strählow.<ref name=adb/> Between 1831 and 1836 Leichhardt studied philosophy, language, and natural sciences at the Universities of [[University of Göttingen|Göttingen]] and [[University of Berlin|Berlin]] but never received a university degree. He moved to England in 1837, continued his study of the natural sciences at various places, including the [[British Museum]], London, and the [[Jardin des Plantes]], Paris, and undertook field work in several European countries, including France, Italy and Switzerland.

==Exploration==
On 14 February 1842 Leichhardt arrived in Sydney, Australia. His aim was to explore inland Australia and he was hopeful of a government appointment in his fields of interest.<ref name="nameplate">[http://www.nma.gov.au/collections/highlights/the-leichhardt-nameplate The Leichhardt nameplate and medal] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728143039/http://www.nma.gov.au/collections/highlights/the-leichhardt-nameplate |     The date=28 July 2012 }}, National Museum of Australia, accessed online 18 March 2011</ref> In September 1842 Leichhardt went to the [[Hunter River, New South Wales|Hunter River]] valley north of Sydney to study the geology, flora and fauna of the region, and to observe farming methods. He then set out on his own on a specimen-collecting journey that took him from [[Newcastle, New South Wales|Newcastle]], New South Wales, to [[Moreton Bay]] in Queensland.<ref name=adb/> On 23 September 1842, at the invitation of [[Alexander Walker Scott]], Leichhardt arrived at [[Ash Island (NSW)|Ash Island]], where he spent two or three days.<ref>{{Cite web|date=29 January 2013|title=Ludwig Leichardt in Newcastle|url=https://hunterlivinghistories.com/2013/01/29/ludwig-leichhardt-in-newcastle/|access-date=23 September 2020|website=Hunter Living Histories}}</ref> Leichhardt's diary from 28 December 1842-July 1843, mostly in German, is available [https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/Ydmdmae9 on-line] at the State Library of New South Wales.
[[Image:Leichhardt-map.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The first expedition of Leichhardt]]
[[File:St James' Church, Sydney 24.JPG|thumb|right|Memorial in [[St James' Church, Sydney]] to [[John Gilbert (naturalist)|John Gilbert]], a member of Leichhardt's expedition]]
[[File:Memorial to John Gilbert, Gilbert's Lookout, Taroom, 2014.JPG|thumb|Memorial to John Gilbert at Gilbert's Lookout, [[Taroom]] in the [[Shire of Banana]] in [[Queensland]], 2008]]

=== The First Leichhardt Expedition (1844–1846) ===
After returning to Sydney early in 1844, Leichhardt hoped to take part in a proposed government-sponsored expedition from Moreton Bay to [[Port Essington]] {{convert|300|km}} north of [[Darwin, Northern Territory|Darwin]]. When plans for this expedition fell through, Leichhardt decided to mount the expedition himself.  Accompanied by volunteers and supported by private funding, he left Sydney in August 1844 to sail to Moreton Bay, where four more joined the party. The expedition departed on 1 October 1844 from [[Jimbour Homestead]], the farthest outpost of settlement on the Queensland [[Darling Downs]].<ref name="adb" /> During this trip, Leichhardt named Seven Emu Creek, after shooting a mob of [[emu]]s nearby, a name later taken on by a large [[cattle station]] still in existence, [[Seven Emu Station]].<ref>{{cite journal | title=Seven emu|issue =130|journal=Outback Magazine|date= April–May 2020| publisher= R.M. Williams | url=https://www.outbackmag.com.au/seven-emu/|first=David|last= Hancock | access-date=15 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Encounter a strong, vibrant Indigenous heritage | website=Seven Emu Station | date=6 May 2014 | url=http://sevenemustation.com.au/about-seven-emu-station/ | access-date=15 June 2020}}</ref>

After a nearly 4,800-kilometre (3,000-mile) overland journey, and having long been given up for dead, Leichhardt arrived in Port Essington on 17 December 1845, where a company of Imperial marines was stationed.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article145203399 |title=Mr John Roper |newspaper=[[Wagga Wagga Express]] |volume=XXXVI |issue=6446 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=24 September 1895 |access-date=30 March 2024 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> He returned to Sydney by ship, arriving on 25 March 1846 to a hero's welcome.<ref>{{cite news|date=1 April 1846|title=Leichhardt |volume=XXI|page=2|newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|issue=2773|location=New South Wales, Australia|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12886265|access-date=11 August 2020|via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The ''Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia, from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, a Distance of Upwards of 3000 miles, During the Years 1844 and 1845'' by Leichhardt describes this expedition.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Leichhardt |first1=Ludwig |title=Journal of an overland expedition in Australia, from Moreton Bay to Port Essington during the years 1844-1845 |date=1847 |publisher=T. & W. Boone |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/b29336910}}</ref> Leichhardt's diary (from 9 September 1845 to 23 March 1846) is available [https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/nGm4mBaY on-line] at the State Library of New South Wales.

A memorial to [[John Gilbert (naturalist)|John Gilbert]], one of Leichhardt's companions on this journey, can be found on the north wall of [[St James' Church, Sydney]]. Under the title ''Dulce et Decorum Est Pro Scientia Mori'' (a variation on the more commonly seen ''[[Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori]])'' the inscription on the monument, which was "erected by the colonists of [[New South Wales]]" reads: "in memory of John Gilbert, [[Ornithology|Ornithologist]], who was speared by the blacks on 29 June 1845 during the first overland expedition to Port Essington by Dr Ludwig Leichhardt and his intrepid companions". There is also a memorial to Gilbert at Gilbert's Lookout at [[Taroom]].<ref>{{cite web|title=John Gilbert|url=http://monumentaustralia.org.au/display/92623-john-gilbert|publisher=Monument Australia|access-date=16 May 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517132208/http://monumentaustralia.org.au/display/92623-john-gilbert|archive-date=17 May 2014}}</ref>

=== The Second Leichhardt Expedition (1846) ===
Leichhardt's second expedition, undertaken with a government grant and substantial private subscriptions, started in December 1846. It was supposed to take him from the Darling Downs to the west coast of Australia and ultimately to the [[Swan River (Western Australia)|Swan River]] and [[Perth]]. However, after covering only {{convert|800|km}} the expedition team was forced to return in June 1847 due to heavy rain, malarial fever and famine. Members of the party nearly mutinied after learning that Leichhardt had failed to bring along a medical kit.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Kennedy|first=Dane|title=The Last Blank Spaces|date=1 March 2013|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-07497-2|location=|pages=160–161|doi=10.4159/harvard.9780674074972}}</ref> Faced with failure, Leichhardt seems to have suffered a nervous breakdown, and Aboriginal guide Harry Brown effectively took over as leader of the party, taking them successfully back to the Darling Downs.<ref name=":0" />

Leichhardt blamed failure of the expedition on his men's weakness. [[John Frederick Mann]], his second-in-charge, published a rebuttal<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article112867188 |title=Leichhardt's Last Letters |newspaper=[[The Ballarat Star]] |volume=XI |issue=36 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=10 February 1866 |access-date=29 March 2024 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> 20 years later, and a book, ''Eight Months with Leichhardt'', after 40 years.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3470451 |title=Reviews |newspaper=[[The Brisbane Courier]] |volume=XLIV |issue=9,415 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=19 March 1888 |access-date=29 March 2024 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

=== Subsequent activities ===
After recovering from malaria Leichhardt spent six weeks in 1847 examining the course of the [[Condamine River]], southern Queensland, and the country between the route of another expedition led by [[Thomas Mitchell (explorer)|Sir Thomas Mitchell]] in 1846 and his own route, covering nearly {{convert|1,000|km}}. Leichhardt's diary from 17 August 1847 to 14 September 1847, is available [https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/1wN2NW2n on-line] at the State Library of New South Wales.

In April 1847 Leichhardt shared the annual prize of the [[Paris Geographical Society]], for the most important geographic discovery with the French explorer Charles-Xavier Rochet d'Héricourt. Soon afterward, on 24 May, the [[Royal Geographical Society]], London, awarded Leichhardt its [[Patron's Medal]] as recognition of 'the increased knowledge of the great continent of Australia' gained by his Moreton Bay-Port Essington journey.<ref name=adb/> Leichhardt himself never saw these medals but was aware he had been awarded them. In one of his last known letters he wrote:<ref>{{Cite web|title = Ludwig Leichhardt's Australian letters|url = http://www.environmentandsociety.org/exhibitions/leichhardt/ludwig-leichhardts-australian-letters|website = www.environmentandsociety.org| date=22 May 2015 |access-date = 26 January 2016|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160204012314/http://www.environmentandsociety.org/exhibitions/leichhardt/ludwig-leichhardts-australian-letters|archive-date = 4 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="nameplate" />

{{blockquote |text=I've had the pleasure of hearing that the geographical society in London has awarded me one of its medals, and that the Parisian geographical society has conferred a similar honour upon me. Naturally I'm very pleased to think that such discerning authorities consider me worthy of such honour; but whatever I have done has never been for honour. I have worked for the sake of science, and for nothing else. }}

In 2012 the [[National Museum of Australia]] purchased the medal awarded to Leichhardt by London's Royal Geographical Society in 1847. It came directly from descendants of the Leichhardt family in Mexico.<ref name="nameplate" />

==Disappearance==
[[Image:Ludwig Leichhardt2.jpg|thumb|right|Portrait of Ludwig Leichhardt]]
In 1848 Leichhardt again set out from the Condamine River to reach the Swan River. The expedition consisted of Leichhardt, four Europeans, two Aboriginal guides, seven horses, 20 mules and 50 bullocks. The Europeans were Adolph Classen, Arthur Hentig, Donald Stuart and Thomas Hands, a [[ticket of leave]] holder who replaced Kelly at [[Henry Stuart Russell]]'s [[Cecil Plains, Queensland|Cecil Plains station]]. The Aboriginal guides were Wommai and Billy Bombat, from [[Port Stephens (New South Wales)|Port Stephens]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Leichhardt|first1=Ludwig|title=Autograph letter signed from Ludwig Leichhardt to ?|url=https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/YK5Q5X0n|website=Ludwig Leichhardt Collection 1846-1850...compiled by W. R. A. Kilpatrick|publisher=State Library of New South Wales|access-date=27 May 2022|location=Sydney|date=14 March 1848|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220527164703/https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/YK5Q5X0n|archive-date=27 May 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Smout|first1=Ruth|title=Leichhardt: the secrets of the Sandhills: a legend and an enigma|journal=Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland|date=1966|volume=8|issue=1|page=59|url=https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:212776/s00855804_1965_1966_8_1_55.pdf|access-date=29 January 2015|publisher=Royal Historical Society of Queensland|location=Brisbane, Qld|issn=0085-5804|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304003452/https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:212776/s00855804_1965_1966_8_1_55.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref>

The party was last seen on 3 April 1848 at [[Allan Macpherson]]'s [[Muckadilla|Cogoon]] run, an outlying part of [[Mount Abundance Homestead|Mount Abundance Station]], west of [[Roma, Queensland|Roma]] on the [[Darling Downs]]. Leichhardt's disappearance after moving inland, although investigated by many, remains a mystery. The expedition had been expected to take two to three years, but after no sign or word was received from Leichhardt it was assumed that he and the others in the party had died. The latest evidence suggests that they may have perished somewhere in the [[Great Sandy Desert]] of the Australian interior.<ref name="KenEastwood"/>

Four years after Leichhardt's disappearance, the [[Government of New South Wales]] sent out a search expedition under [[Hovenden Hely]]. The expedition found nothing but a single campsite with a tree marked "L" over "XVA". In 1858 another search expedition was sent out, this time under [[Augustus Gregory]]. On 21 April near what is now [[Blackall, Queensland|Blackall]], beside the [[Barcoo River]], this expedition found a tree marked "L".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.qld.gov.au/recreation/arts/heritage/museum-of-lands/surveying/surveyors/augustus-gregory |title=Sir Augustus Charles Gregory |date=13 March 2018 |publisher=[[Museum of Lands, Mapping and Surveying]] |access-date=22 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181022153449/https://www.qld.gov.au/recreation/arts/heritage/museum-of-lands/surveying/surveyors/augustus-gregory |archive-date=22 October 2018 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

In 1864 [[Duncan McIntyre (Explorer)|Duncan McIntyre]] discovered two trees marked with "L" on the [[Flinders River]] near the [[Gulf of Carpentaria]]. After his return to Victoria McIntyre telegraphed the Royal Society on 15 December 1864 that he had found "two trees marked L about 15 years old".<ref>Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, Vol 25, Part 1, Oct 1987, p9</ref> He was subsequently appointed leader of a search expedition, but found no further trace of Leichhardt.

[[Image:Ludwig Leichhardt by Isobel Fox 1846 SL DG P1-4.jpg|thumb|left|Portrait of Ludwig Leichhardt, 28 May 1846, Isobel Fox]]In 1869 the [[Government of Western Australia]] heard rumours of a place where the remains of horses and men killed by [[indigenous Australians]] could be seen. A search expedition was sent out under [[John Forrest]], but nothing was found, and it was decided that the story might refer to the bones of horses left for dead at [[Poison Rocks, Western Australia|Poison Rock]] during [[Robert Austin (explorer)|Robert Austin]]'s [[Austin expedition of 1854|expedition of 1854]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fig.net/resources/proceedings/fig_proceedings/fig2006/papers/hs02/hs02_05_baitch_0942.pdf |title=Ludwig Leichhardt – the Life and the Legend |first=George |last=Baitch |publisher=[[International Federation of Surveyors]] |access-date=22 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304113113/http://www.fig.net/resources/proceedings/fig_proceedings/fig2006/papers/hs02/hs02_05_baitch_0942.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=live  }}</ref>

The mystery of Leichhardt's fate remained in the minds of explorers for many years. During [[David Carnegie (explorer)|David Carnegie]]'s expedition through the [[Gibson Desert|Gibson]] and [[Great Sandy Desert|Great Sandy]] Deserts in 1896 he encountered some Aborigines who had among their possessions an iron tent peg, the lid of a tin matchbox and part of the ironwork of a [[saddle]]. Carnegie speculated that these were from Leichhardt's expedition. Except for a small brass plate that was found in 1900 bearing Leichhardt's name, "no artefacts with corroborated provenance have been able to shed light on Leichhardt's final expedition".<ref name="nameplate"/>

In 1975, a ranger named Zac Mathias exhibited photographs in Darwin of Aboriginal cave paintings that showed white men with an animal.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Marshall|first1=Richard|title=Mysteries of the unexplained|url=https://archive.org/details/mysteriesofunexp00mars_0|url-access=registration|date=1982|publisher=Reader's Digest Association|location=Pleasantville, N.Y.|isbn=0-89577-146-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/mysteriesofunexp00mars_0/page/120 120]|edition=Repr. with amendments}}</ref>

===Leichhardt nameplate===

In 2006 Australian historians and scientists authenticated a tiny brass plate ({{cvt|15|×|2|cm|disp=or}}) marked "LUDWIG LEICHHARDT 1848",<ref>[http://www.nma.gov.au/audio/detail/scientific-analysis-of-the-leichhardt-plate Scientific analysis of the Leichhardt nameplate] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110312170245/http://www.nma.gov.au/audio/detail/scientific-analysis-of-the-leichhardt-plate |date=12 March 2011 }}, Paper presented by David Hallam, Senior Conservator, National Museum of Australia, Leichhardt symposium, 15 June 2007</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = Ludwig Leichhardt: A German Explorer's Letters Home from Australia: Introduction|url = http://www.environmentandsociety.org/exhibitions/leichhardt/introduction|website = www.environmentandsociety.org|access-date = 26 January 2016|url-status = live|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160126103932/http://www.environmentandsociety.org/exhibitions/leichhardt/introduction|archive-date = 26 January 2016}}</ref> discovered around 1900 by an Aboriginal stockman near Sturt Creek, between the [[Tanami Desert|Tanami]] and Great Sandy deserts, just inside Western Australia from the border with the Northern Territory. When found, the plate was attached to a partially burnt shotgun slung in a [[Adansonia gregorii|boab tree]] which was engraved with the initial "L". The plate is now part of the [[National Museum of Australia]] collection.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nma.gov.au/collections-search/display?irn=122431 |title=Nameplate for Ludwig Leichhardt 1848, National Museum of Australia collection record |publisher=Nma.gov.au |access-date=31 May 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130212010945/http://www.nma.gov.au/collections-search/display?irn=122431 |archive-date=12 February 2013 }}</ref>

Before the nameplate was authenticated, historians could only speculate on the route Leichhardt had taken and how far he had journeyed before perishing. The location of the plate indicated that he made it at least two thirds of the way across the continent during his east-west crossing attempt. It also suggested that he was following a northern arc from Moreton Bay in Queensland to the Swan River in Western Australia, following the headwaters of rivers, rather than heading straight through the desert interior.<ref name="theage">{{cite web| url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/11/23/1163871550048.html| title=Small clue reveals explorer's huge endeavour| work=The Age – online| date=24 September 2006| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929145243/http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2006/11/23/1163871550048.html| archive-date=29 September 2007}}</ref><ref>[http://www.nma.gov.au/audio/detail/he-nearly-made-it-leichhardts-grand-plan-of-1848 He nearly made it: Leichhardt's 'grand plan' of 1848] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110317055730/http://www.nma.gov.au/audio/detail/he-nearly-made-it-leichhardts-grand-plan-of-1848 |date=17 March 2011 }}, Paper presented by Dr Darrell Lewis, Australian National University, Leichhardt Symposium, National Museum of Australia, Canberra, Friday, 15 June 2007</ref>

For a speculative "ballistic" biography of the nameplate and its significance in Indigenous and non-Indigenous lifeworlds, see Andrew Hurley's article "Reports, silences and repercussion: wondering about the ballistic biography of the Leichhardt gunplate."<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.1080/13642529.2020.1845536 | doi=10.1080/13642529.2020.1845536 | title=Reports, silences and repercussion: Wondering about the ballistic biography of the Leichhardt gunplate | date=2020 | last1=Hurley | first1=Andrew Wright | journal=Rethinking History | volume=24 | issue=3–4 | pages=543–560 | hdl=10453/144496 | hdl-access=free }}</ref>

===Aboriginal oral history===
In 2003, a librarian found a letter in the NSW State Library that may shed light on Leichhardt's disappearance. Dated 2 April 1874, the letter, received by Sydney clergyman [[William Branwhite Clarke]], was written by {{thinspace|W.|P.}} Gordon, a station owner from the [[Darling Downs]] who had met Leichhardt in the days before his party vanished. The letter relates how Gordon moved to [[Wallumbilla, Queensland|Wallumbilla]] and how, after living there for more than 10 years, he had befriended the [[Wallumbilla]] tribe who in time came to openly share their stories and folklore with him. One detailed story referred to the death of a white man who was leading a party of mules and bullocks along the [[Maranoa River]] many years earlier. According to the Wallumbilla, a large group of Aboriginals had encircled the party and murdered everyone in it. It has been speculated that if the story was true, the expedition's belongings were likely traded widely after the massacre, explaining how items that could have come only from Leichhardt's expedition were found in the Gibson Desert and why the rifle butt with the brass plate was found some {{convert|4,000|km}} west of the Maranoa River.<ref name="munro">{{cite news | last = Munro | first = Chris | date = 19 March 2012 | title = The enduring mystery of Ludwig Leichhardt | work = Tracker (news service published by the NSW Aboriginal Land Council) | url = http://tracker.org.au/2012/03/the-enduring-mystery-of-ludwig-leichhardt/ | access-date = 5 February 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140720010409/http://tracker.org.au/2012/03/the-enduring-mystery-of-ludwig-leichhardt/ | archive-date = 20 July 2014 }}</ref>

===Theories===
The validity of all the claimed 'Leichhardt' relics and the various theories proposed is discussed in a  2013 book entitled ''Where is Dr Leichhardt?: the greatest mystery in Australian history''.<ref name=Lewis>{{cite book|last=Lewis|first=Darrell|title=Where is Dr Leichhardt?: the greatest mystery in Australian history|year=2013|publisher=Monash University Publishing|location=Clayton, Victoria|isbn=978-1-921867-76-7}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Ludwig Leichhardt - Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia.jpg|thumb|''Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia'', 1847]]
Leichhardt's contribution to science, especially his successful expedition to Port Essington in 1845, was officially recognised. In 1847 the [[Société de Géographie|Geographical Society, Paris]], awarded its annual prize for geographic discovery equally to Leichhardt and a French explorer, Rochet d'Héricourt; also in 1847, the [[Royal Geographical Society]] in London awarded Leichhardt its [[Patron's Medal]]; and [[Prussia]] recognised his achievement by granting him a king's pardon for having failed to return to Prussia when due to serve a period of compulsory military training. The Port Essington expedition was one of the longest land exploration journeys in Australia, and a useful one in the discovery of excellent pastoral country.<ref name="adb"/>

Leichhardt's accounts and collections were valued, and his observations are generally considered to be accurate. He is remembered as one of the most authoritative early recorders of Australia's environment and the best trained natural scientist to explore Australia to that time.<ref name="KenEastwood" /><ref>[http://www.nma.gov.au/audio/detail/leichhardt-as-scientist-and-diarist Leichhardt as scientist and diarist] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110317054522/http://www.nma.gov.au/audio/detail/leichhardt-as-scientist-and-diarist |date=17 March 2011 }}, Paper presented by Dr Tom Darragh, Museum Victoria, Leichhardt symposium, National Museum of Australia, 15 June 2007</ref> Leichhardt left a record of his observations in Australia from 1842 to 1848 in diaries, letters, notebooks, sketch-books, maps, and in his published works.<ref name="adb"/>

A detailed map of Ludwig Leichhardt's route in Australia from Moreton Bay to Port Essington (1844 & 1845), from his Original Map, adjusted and drawn... by [[John Arrowsmith (cartographer)|John Arrowsmith]]<ref>{{Citation|title=Detailed map of Ludwig Leichhardt's route in Australia from Moreton Bay to Port Essington (1844 & 1845), from his Original Map, adjusted and drawn... by John Arrowsmith. (negative photostat, 12 parts)|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/229918027|publication-date=1840|publisher=Queensland State Archives|id=Item ID ITM635667|access-date=11 August 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Prescott|first=Dorothy|date=18 July 2011|title=Arrowsmith's Australian Maps|url=https://www.asmp.esrc.unimelb.edu.au/siteindex.html|access-date=11 August 2020|page=Eastern Portion of Australia, East 1847/1}}</ref> was ranked #8  in the 'Top 150: Documenting Queensland' exhibition when it toured to venues around Queensland from February 2009 to April 2010.<ref>{{cite web|author=corporateName=Queensland State Archives|title=Number 8 - Map of Ludwig Leichhardt's expedition from Moreton Bay to Port Essington (1844-1845)|url=http://www.archives.qld.gov.au/Researchers/Exhibitions/Top150/001-025/Pages/008.aspx|url-status=live|archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20150405074415/http://www.archives.qld.gov.au/Researchers/Exhibitions/Top150/001-025/Pages/008.aspx|archive-date=5 April 2015|access-date=11 August 2020|website=Number 8 - Map of Ludwig Leichhardt's expedition from Moreton Bay to Port Essington (1844-1845)|publication-date=5 April 2015|via=National Library of Australia}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>  The exhibition was part of [[Queensland State Archives]]' events and exhibition program which contributed to the state's Q150 celebrations, marking the 150th anniversary of the [[separation of Queensland]] from New South Wales.<ref>{{Citation|author1=Queensland State Archives|title=Annual report|journal=Queensland State Archives Annual Report|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/28725413|pages=6, 9|publication-date=2014|publisher=Queensland State Archives|issn=1448-8426|access-date=4 August 2020}}</ref>

Harsh criticism of Leichhardt's character was published some time after his disappearance and his reputation suffered badly. The fairness of this criticism continues to be debated.  Leichhardt's failed attempt to make the first east–west crossing of the Australian continent may be compared with the [[Burke and Wills expedition]] of 1860–61, which succeeded in crossing from south to north, but failed to return. However, Leichhardt's success in making it to Port Essington in 1845 was a major achievement, which ranks him with other successful [[European land exploration of Australia|European explorers of Australia]].<ref name="nameplate" />

Australia has commemorated Ludwig Leichhardt through the use of his name in several places: [[Leichhardt, New South Wales|Leichhardt]], a suburb in the [[Inner West]] of Sydney, and the surrounding [[Municipality of Leichhardt]]; [[Leichhardt, Queensland|Leichhardt]], a suburb of [[Ipswich, Queensland|Ipswich]]; the [[Leichhardt Highway]] and the [[Leichhardt River]] in Queensland; and the [[Division of Leichhardt]] in the [[Parliament of Australia|Australian Parliament]]. The name of the [[eucalyptus]] tree species ''[[Corymbia leichhardtii]]'' commemorates Leichhardt.<ref>[http://www.anbg.gov.au/cpbr/cd-keys/euclid3/euclidsample/html/Corymbia_leichhardtii.htm Corymbia leichhardtii] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110405045958/http://www.anbg.gov.au/cpbr/cd-keys/euclid3/euclidsample/html/Corymbia_leichhardtii.htm |date=5 April 2011 }}, EUCLID: Eucalypts of Australia, Australian National Botanic Gardens, accessed online 15 March 2011</ref>

The insect ''[[Petasida ephippigera]]'' is commonly known as Leichhardt's grasshopper, and an alternative name for the [[largetooth sawfish]] (''Pristis pristis'') is Leichhardt's sawfish.<ref name="DEEAustralia">{{cite web | date=2017 | title=Pristis pristis — Freshwater Sawfish, Largetooth Sawfish, River Sawfish, Leichhardt's Sawfish, Northern Sawfish | url=http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=66182 | website=[[Department of the Environment and Energy]] | access-date=28 January 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810160200/http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/publicspecies.pl?taxon_id=66182 | archive-date=10 August 2013 | url-status=live }}</ref>

On 23 October 1988, a monument was erected beside [[Leichhardt Tree, Taroom|Leichhardt's blazed tree]] at [[Taroom, Queensland|Taroom]] by the local historical society and tourism association to celebrate Leichhardt's 175th birthday and the [[Bicentenary of Australia]].<sup>[[Leichhardt Tree, Taroom#cite note-2|[2]]]</sup> The tree was listed on the [[Queensland Heritage Register]] in 1992.<ref name="qhr">{{cite QHR|15610|Leichhardt Tree|600835|access-date=1 August 2014}}</ref>

Andrew Hurley's 2018 ‚afterlife biography‘, ''Ludwig Leichhardt‘s Ghosts: The Strange Career of a Travelling Myth'', documents many of the different ways Leichhardt has been remembered in Australia (by both non-Indigenous and Indigenous people) as well as in his native Germany.<ref>Andrew Wright Hurley, Ludwing Leichhardt‘s Ghosts: The Strange career of a Travelling Myth. Camden House, 2018.</ref>

Scientific specimens collected by Leichhardt are cared for at institutions including the [[National Herbarium of Victoria]] (MEL), [[Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria]], and the [[National Herbarium of New South Wales]] (NSW), [[Sydney Botanic Gardens]].<ref name="Bionomia">{{Cite web| url = https://bionomia.net/Q57763/deposited-at| title = Specimens depisited at. | website = Bionomia| access-date = 15 November 2024}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
Leichhardt's life inspired a range of "Lemurian" novels, starting with [[George Firth Scott]]'s book ''[[Lemuria in popular culture|The Last Lemurian]]'' (1898). His last expedition was the inspiration for the 1957 novel ''[[Voss (novel)|Voss]]'' by [[Patrick White]].<ref>[http://www.nma.gov.au/audio/transcripts/leichhardt/NMA_martin_20070615.html Leichhardt in Australian literature] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110317054337/http://www.nma.gov.au/audio/transcripts/leichhardt/NMA_martin_20070615.html |date=17 March 2011 }}, Paper presented by Dr Susan Martin, La Trobe University, Leichhardt symposium, [[National Museum of Australia]], 15 June 2007</ref>

He inspired the radio plays ''[[The Lost Leader (radio play)|The Lost Leader]]'' (1934) and ''[[What Happened to Leichhardt?]]'' (1948).

In February 2013 the band [[Manilla Road]] released a song called "Mysterium", based on Leichhardt's explorations and disappearance.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Manilla_Road/Mysterium/358385 |title=Manilla Road – Mysterium – Encyclopaedia Metallum |publisher=The Metal Archives |access-date=31 May 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512033937/http://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Manilla_Road/Mysterium/358385 |archive-date=12 May 2013 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of people who disappeared mysteriously: pre-1970|List of people who disappeared]]

==Literary works==
* {{Citation | author1=Leichhardt, Ludwig | title=Journal of an overland expedition in Australia, from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, a distance of upwards of 3000 miles, during the years 1844–1845 | publication-date=1847 | publisher=T. & W. Boone | url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/8502324}}, available [http://setis.library.usyd.edu.au/ozlit/pdf/p00050.pdf online]
*Letters from Leichhardt to his fellow expedition team member [[Frederick Isaac]] are held in the [[State Library of New South Wales]].<ref>{{Citation|author1=Leichhardt, Ludwig|title=Item 12: Autograph letter signed from Ludwig Leichhardt to Frederick Isaac, 3 June 1844|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/192593185|publication-date=1844|access-date=5 April 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|author1=Leichhardt, Ludwig|title=Item 14: Autograph letter signed from Ludwig Leichhardt to Frederick Isaac, 10 October 1847|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/192593186|publication-date=1847|access-date=5 April 2015}}</ref>
*Ludwig Leichhardt correspondence and miscellaneous papers, 1841–1847, are held at the State Library of New South Wales (MLMSS 683/Volume 2) and are available [https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/nX6O6y8Y online]

==Archives At==
*Original Ludwig Leichhardt journals, 4 volumes, 1840–1846, State Library of New South Wales [https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/9Bv7dDB9 9Bv7dDB9]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{Dictionary of Australian Biography |First=Ludwig |Last=Leichhardt |shortlink=0-dict-biogL.html#leichhardt1|access-date=11 September 2009}}
* {{cite journal
 | doi =10.1071/HR07008
 | last =Stephens| first =Matthew
 | title = From Lost Property to Explorer's Relics: The Rediscovery of the Personal Library of Ludwig Leichhardt
 | journal = Historical Records of Australian Science
 | volume = 18
| issue = 2
 | pages = 191–227
 | date = October 2007
| issn = 0727-3061 }}
* {{cite journal
 | doi =10.1071/HR05010
 | last =Lewis| first =Darrell
 | title = The Fate of Leichhardt
 | journal = Historical Records of Australian Science
 | volume = 17
| issue = 1
 | pages = 1–30
 | year = 2006
| issn = 0727-3061 }}
* [[Colin Roderick|Roderick, Colin]]: "Leichhardt, the dauntless explorer", North Ryde (Sydney): Angus & Robertson 1988, {{ISBN|0-207-15171-7}}
* Nicholls, Angus (2011). Discussion of Leichhardt's influence on Patrick White's novel Voss, ABC Radio National Book Show, 25 January [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bookshow/stories/2011/3120929.htm]
* Nicholls, Angus (2012). "The Core of this Dark Continent: Ludwig Leichhardt's Australian Explorations", in ''Transnational Networks: Germans in the British Empire 1670–1914'', ed. John R. Davis, Stefan Manz and Margrit Schulte Beerbühl (Leiden: Brill).
* Nicholls, Angus (2013). "The Young Leichhardt's Diaries in the Context of his Australian Cultural Legacy", in ''Memoirs of the Queensland Museum – Culture'' 7, no. 2, 541–59
* Nicholls, Angus (2015). "Leichhardt and ''Voss'' Revisited", in ''Patrick White Beyond the Grave: New Critical Perspectives'', ed. Ian Henderson and Anouk Lang, London: Anthem Press, 35–66
* Andrew Wright Hurley, Ludwig Leichhardt‘s Ghosts: The Strange career of a Travelling Myth. Camden House, 2018.
*{{cite DNB|wstitle=Leichhardt, Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig |first=George Clement|last= Boase|author-link = George Clement Boase|volume=32}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* A complete written version of Leichhardt's expedition- [http://www.fig.net/resources/proceedings/fig_proceedings/fig2006/papers/hs02/hs02_05_baitch_0942.pdf]
* {{Gutenberg author |id=1633| name=Ludwig Leichhardt}}
* [http://www.gutenberg.net.au/pages/leichhardt.html Works by Ludwig Leichhardt] at [[Project Gutenberg Australia]]
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Ludwig Leichhardt}}
* [http://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/discover_collections/history_nation/exploration/compass/leichhardt.html Ludwig Leichhardt online collection – State Library of NSW]
* [http://www.nma.gov.au/audio/series/ludwig-leichhardt-series Ludwig Leichhardt series, National Museum of Australia Audio on Demand: Papers presented to the Leichhardt symposium, National Museum of Australia, 15 June 2007]
* {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Leichhardt, Ludwig|year=1905 |short=x}}
* [http://freeread.com.au/ebooks/e00030.html ''Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia'']
* {{Cite web |date=2022-04-06 |title=Ludwig Leichhardt's final expedition - Stories from the Archives |url=https://blogs.archives.qld.gov.au/2022/04/06/ludwig-leichhardts-final-expedition/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240405024652/https://blogs.archives.qld.gov.au/2022/04/06/ludwig-leichhardts-final-expedition/ |archive-date=2024-04-05 |access-date= |website=Blogs |publisher=Queensland State Archives}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leichhardt, Ludwig}}
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