1730
Riet Valleij cattle post is first recorded
Riet Valleij on the Buffeljags River was first recorded as a VOC base for livestock barter with Khoekhoe communities.
In 1730, the name Riet Valleij first appeared in a surviving document for a VOC cattle post on the Buffeljags River. The post served as a base for bartering livestock with Khoekhoe communities and became a permanent outpost in 1734.
Riet Valleij was the VOC's easternmost Cape outpost at the time. A modern memorial at the site specifically associates its cattle trade with the Hessequa, while the heritage database describes its trading partners more generally as Khoekhoe communities.
Why it matters
The post extended the VOC's permanent trading and administrative presence into the eastern Overberg.
Perspective notes
The Atlas of Mutual Heritage describes barter with Khoekhoe communities generally. A modern memorial at the site specifically associates the post with cattle obtained from the Hessequa.