c. 1690s
Trekboer pastoral expansion emerges beyond the settled districts
From the late seventeenth century, some free-burgher stock farmers moved seasonally beyond the settled districts in search of grazing, water and livestock markets.
View in timelineFrom the late seventeenth century, some free-burgher stock farmers moved cattle and sheep seasonally beyond the settled districts, using temporary grazing places and seeking water, pasture and access to livestock exchange. The pattern grew from the limits of intensive farming near the Cape and from the economic value of pastoral production. It involved movement through landscapes already used and governed by Khoikhoi and San communities, whose responses ranged from trade and accommodation to resistance and conflict.
Significance
This mobility extended settler use of the interior and helped create the conditions for later disputes over grazing, water, livestock and political authority.
Why it matters
Pastoral mobility extended settler use of the interior and intensified competition over grazing, water and routes with Khoikhoi and San communities, helping establish the frontier conditions of the eighteenth century.
Disputed interpretations
The process developed gradually and should not be treated as a single dated migration.
Perspective notes
Company records describe mobile farmers in terms of land grants, livestock and administrative reach. Khoikhoi and San land use, seasonal movement and political authority are less fully represented in the same records and must be reconstructed from other historical and archaeological evidence.