Editing Strzelecki Ranges (section)

== European explorers ==
Before permanent European settlement, the coast to the south of the Strzeleckis was visited by [[Seal hunting|sealers]] and [[Acacia|wattle]] bark gatherers, but they did not settle. [[Samuel Anderson (Australian settler)|Samuel Anderson]] (1803–1863), a Scottish immigrant from [[Kirkcudbright]], agriculturist and explorer, established a squatter agricultural settlement on the [[Bass River (Victoria)|Bass River]] in 1835, the third permanent settlement in Victoria (then called the [[Port Phillip District]]).

The first European to explore the Strzelecki Ranges was [[Angus McMillan]], who came in search of pastures from New South Wales in 1839.

However, the Strzelecki Ranges are named after the Polish explorer, [[Paweł Edmund Strzelecki]] (also known as Paul Edmund de Strzelecki). In 1840, after climbing and naming Australia's highest mountain [[Mount Kosciuszko]], he journeyed further south into Gippsland. Heading towards Port Phillip Bay, his party entered the north-eastern end of the Strzelecki Ranges and struggled through the rugged and thick forest for 22 days, before finally emerging starved and exhausted at [[Corinella, Victoria|Corinella]] on [[Western Port|Western Port Bay]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The Strzeleckis – A new future for the heartbreak hills|last=Noble|first=W S|publisher=Dept of Conservation Forests and Lands|year=1976}}</ref>