The Great Trek and gold rush towns of the Eastern Escarpment of the Drakensberg, which runs through Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces, tell the age-old cautionary tale of ruin following corruption and greed. As such they add a dark but fascinating dimension for visitors to the region.
The Great Trek Settlements
The Great Trek was primarily a rebellious search for more land by a group of fractious, independently minded Boers fed up with creeping British authority. From late 1835 hundreds of ox-wagons began creaking away from towns in the then Cape Colony on an epic journey beyond the border.
Those that followed the tall, autocratic Andries Hendrik Potgieter settled in 1845 in a well-watered valley on the Eastern Escarpment about four kilometres north of present day Ohrigstad. There they built a fort and a mud brick and thatch village, which they named Andries-Ohrigstad after their leader and the Amsterdam merchant Georgius Gerardus Ohrig who sent supplies to the Trekkers. Clashes with other Boer leaders in the area and a devastating outbreak of malaria forced the abandonment of the town.
Renegade Haunt
Potgieter moved north to the foot of the Soutpansberg range where he established the autonomous republic of Zoutpansberg Maatschappij with the reed-hutted town of Zoutpansbergdorp as its capital. This soon developed into a chaotic, brawling haunt for hunters and all sorts of renegades seeking the anonymity of a frontier.
It became worse after the truculent Stephanus Schoeman became leader in 1855 after Potgieter and his son died in quick succession. Changing the name of the capital to Schoemansdal, he let it descend into anarchy. Cattle rustling, various outrages and over-hunting led to direct conflict with the Venda nation that escalated into war and the abandonment of the town in 1867.
The Gold Mining Camps
At the time Schoemansdal was dying, a new flourish was exciting the region. The existence of gold in the interior of southern Africa had long been suspected, driven by such fanciful legends as King Solomon’s Mines.
Prospectors had begun scouring the then Transvaal Republic in the early 1860s, but it only became a rush in September 1873 when ‘Wheelbarrow’ Alex Patterson came upon the first payable yield near Pilgrim’s Rest.
Eureka City
This was followed by finds to the south, with the accompanying establishment of raucous settlements. Among the wildest was Eureka City atop a hill near Barberton, which began when Durban businessman J Sherwood opened the Queen of Sheba Hotel named in honour of his famously ugly wife who was jokingly compared to the impossibly beautiful monarch of legend.
Soon there was a racetrack and innumerable saloons that radiated light, music and gunshots by night. Most popular was the Red Light Canteen where Cockney Liz was auctioned every Saturday night.
And ‘gold fever’ was even more evident at Jamestown near Barberton and Steynsdorp in the Umhlondosi valley on the Swaziland border. But the end came quickly, and by 1887 the prospectors had left for the new finds on the Witwatersrand to the west and the Murchison Range to the north.
Leydsdorp
In 1886 Auguste Robert, known as French Bob, found a rich seam in the Murchison Range round 
present day Gravelotte. These diggings came to be known as the Selati Gold Fields and a new rush started for French Bob’s Camp, which was changed to Leydsdorp in 1890 after Transvaal state secretary WJ Leyds.
Here the excesses of the other mining towns were magnified as canteens, bars and hotels sprang up overnight. And the swindling was so bad that a new saying emerged: ‘You get a liar, a damn liar, and a prospector of the Murchison Range.’
As the gold petered out so Leydsdorp died and by 1924 it too was a ghost town. Now the busiest part is the well-populated graveyard which is said to come alive at night.
Getting There
Starting from the north, Schoemansdal has been partly restored as a national monument and can be seen about 20-kilometres from Makhado (previously Louis Trichardt) on the R522 to Vivo. From here go to Gravelotte via Tzaneen and follow the signs to Leydsdorp, which is being restored to its former glory. There is a guesthouse and hotel in this colourful town should you wish to visit overnight.
To get to Andries-Ohrigstad continue on the R526 to Hoedspruit then turn right onto the R527 over the Abel Erasmus Pass. After the Echo Caves, and a few kilometres before Ohrigstad, is a sign to the right indicating a Voortrekker monument, which incorporates part of the walling of the old Andries-Ohrigstad fort.
Unfortunately, nothing remains of Jamestown or Steynsdorp. But the eerie ruins of Eureka City are well worth a visit. These are on a hill a few kilometres from Barberton on the R38, but it is advisable to use a local guide to get there.
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