Louis Tregardt

Louis was the youngest of four children. His grandfather Pietrus Trädgård was a Calvinist refugee from Bäckebo, Kalmar, Southern Sweden who arrived at the Cape in 1731 at the age of 19. His grandfather married a daughter of the German Eksteen family. His father was born in Franschhoek. His family moved to Uitenhage after his birth, and hence to Graaff-Reinet. When the English installed Bresler as their landdrost in Graaff-Reinet, Carel and his two sons settled beyond the Great Fish River, outside the colony, rather than pledging allegiance with the new government. Carel only returned when Dutch governance was restored in 1803, and died at Bruintjeshoogte, near Somerset. He farmed at various places in Graaff-Reinet district before settling in Uitenhage district in 1810. Later that year he married the 15 year old Martha from that district. He soon moved to Boschberg farm near Bruintjeshoogte, which was expropriated in 1814. He then acquired De Plaat farm at Daggaboers Nek, where he was appointed as field cornet for Smaldeel ward in 1825. He ostensibly had an uneasy relationship with the colonial authorities however, and agreed to rent grazing land from Xhosa chief Hintsa. In 1829 Louis sent his son Carolus to graze their cattle along the Black Kei River, then the northern boundary of British Kaffraria. In 1833 (or 34) Louis also crossed the neutral zone to join his son. Here a substantial boer community, at odds with the colonial government, was already living in exile. With Louis acting as their leader, colonel Harry Smith deemed him an agitator of the sixth Xhosa war, and planned to arrest him. Tregardt however moved his family and livestock to grazing land between the Caledon and Orange Rivers, just outside the colony, where he resided in 1835. ==Northward trek==

Tregardt coordinated his movements with those of his friend Hendrik Potgieter, who was to follow his trail. Tregardt started the northward trek with eight families besides his own, and was joined by the trek of Johannes (Hans) van Rensburg, kraal on the Limpopo, where the Van Rensburg clan were likely decimated. Here a premonition of danger and treachery caused Tregardt to return homeward, all but convinced of Van Rensburg's fate. In November 1836, Tregardt moved his camp eastwards to more agreeable climes in the vicinity of what would later be known as Schoemansdal and Louis Trichardt, a quarter known to the Vhavenda nation who occupied the land at the time as Dzanani. His party was to stay here until June 1837, in which time they built rudimentary houses, a workshop and a school for the twenty-one children. Here Tregardt is said to have intervened in a succession struggle between the sons of the late chief Mpofu. Tregardt would have assisted his son Rasethau (i.e. Ramabulana) in retaking the chieftainship from his younger brother Ramavhoya. Tregardt's account of this incident was however torn from his diary at an unknown time. For this assistance, and for protection against Matabele raiding parties, Rasethau evidently gave Tregardt freedom to occupy land and access to hunting grounds. ==Journey to Delagoa Bay==

Tregardt decided on a southerly approach to Delagoa Bay, avoiding the Limpopo where the Van Rensburgs were murdered, and the tsetse flies endemic to the low regions. Tregardt, at a loss to recover these losses, resorted to taking a number of tribe members hostage to prevent further wrongdoing. The final two-hundred mile stage of the trek to Delagoa Bay commenced on 5 February 1838, and the Olifants River was soon forded a 14th and last time. Here the subjects of the Sekororo induna Ngotshipana came to apologise, and managed to secure the release of four woman hostages by presenting Tregardt with two large elephant tusks. The tribes beyond the Blyde River assured Tregardt of their good intentions, and the old chieftainess Mosali asked Tregardt to arbitrate in a quarrel with her rival, Magupe. A local tribe also assisted the trek in navigating a region set with numerous trapping pits. which also describes the further history in Delagoa bay and also the journeys of his son Carolus. The detailed information of the route and GPS coordinates are available online. ==Dissolution of trek==

The party of fifty-two persons received a friendly reception from the Portuguese. What had the appearance of a new beginning would however spell the gloomy end of the trek as a coordinated movement. Four days after their arrival five persons fell ill with fever. The school teacher Pfeffer and Tregardt's wife Martha were first to perish from malaria. More persons took ill, though some of Tregardt's children recovered. The climate and grazing at the fort was found to be unfavorable for a long term stay, and Tregardt dispatched a servant to Natal to request an evacuation by sea. Meanwhile, his son Carolus departed by ship northwards to investigate Madagascar and East Africa for possible settlement. Before his return Tregardt succumbed to malaria, six months after his wife. Only by the winter of the next year, 1839, were the 26 survivors transported by the Mazeppa schooner to Port Natal. ==Legacy and recognition==

He was the only Voortrekker leader to keep a diary of his trek, a valuable document in terms of linguistics and ethnology, The diary was commenced in July 1836 at the Zoutpansberg, and concluded in May 1838 at Delagoa Bay. Entries were added almost daily, and seldom more than two days after the events he described. The document was not written for publication or effect, but rather details his personal reflections on the social interactions and day to day experiences of his small community. which significantly improves the accessibility of the text. The town Trichardtsdorp was named after him in 1899, which in itself recalls Tregardt's disagreement with Van Rensburg. In the town of Louis Trichardt a memorial commemorates the school they built, and a bust of Tregardt is displayed in the municipal library. The Louis Tregardt Trek Memorial Garden is located at the final destination of his trek, in Maputo. A novel by Jeanette Ferreira, Die son kom aan die seekant op (Afrikaans: The sun ascends from the ocean), is based on his journey, as is the youth novel by Pieter Pieterse, Die pad na die see (Course to the sea). ==See also==