John McDouall Stuart was one such traveler. Born in Dysart, Fife, in 1815, he was the last of nine children born to William and Mary (nee McDouall). Stuart was educated in Edinburgh at the Scottish Naval and Military Academy, and received a degree in Civil Engineering. He worked briefly as a clerk, but once Stuart decided he didn't enjoy desk jobs, he certainly did something about it! He left Scotland in the fall of 1838, on board the Indus. It took over three months to sail from Dundee to South Australia.

Stuart arrived in Australia in at the age of twenty-three, and soon joined Captain Charles Sturt's party. He worked as a surveyor in Sturt's crew in Central Australia from 1844-45. Between 1946 and 1863, Stuart explored Lake Torrens and Lake Gairdner, led an expedition looking for a permanent route north. He explored the Macdonnell Ranges, Tennant Creek, and named Central Mount Sturt after the Captain. The expeditions were financed by businessmen and farmers who wanted to run cattle on the land Stuart surveyed, or by the government of South Australia.

His first complete north to south trip through central Australia was completed in 1863. The following year, he returned to Scotland. Perhaps that was the first time he laid eyes on the Patron's Medal awarded to him in 1860 by the Royal Geographical Society, and the Gold Medal, awarded in 1861.

Historians speculate that Stuart, a slight, unhealthy-looking man, had tuberculosis before he arrived in Australia. In one of this expeditions looking for a route north, Stuart contracted scurvy and his party was attacked by Aborigines. Setbacks, however severe, seemed only to strengthen his determination. In Australian Explorers: John McDouall Stuart, Pike writes of Stuart, "He hated sleeping indoors, and did not even like to camp in the same place for two nights. New country had become his great passion, as well as his business."

Stuart died on the fifth of June, 1866, at the age of 50. Today, memorials of Stuart's accomplishments in Australia include the Stuart Highway, linking Adelaide to Darwin, and named for him; and his statue, which stands in Victoria Square, Adelaide.