Mt. Kosciuszko (2,228 Meters)

Below is the text of the sign which was placed here in 1940 to celebrate the centennial of the first recorded ascent of Mt. Kosciuszko

From the valley of the Murray River the Polish explorer Paul Edmund Strzelecki ascended these Australian Alps on 15th February 1840. “A pinnacle, rocky and naked, predominant over several others” was chosen by Strzelecki for a point of trigonometrical survey. “The particular configuration of this eminence,” he recorded, “struck me so forcibly by the similarity it bears to a tumulus elevated in Krakow over the tomb of the patriot Kosciusko that, although in a foreign country, on foreign ground, but amongst a free people, who appreciate freedom and it votaries, I could not refrain from giving it the name Mount Kosciusko.”

This commemorative plaque was originally unveiled by the Counsel General of the Republic of Poland for Australia, New Zealand and Western Samoa, Ladislas Adam de Noskowski Esq; on the 17th February 1940.

Early Visitors

It is highly unlikely that Strzelecki was the first person to climb Mt. Kosciuszko. The Aboriginal people of the Monaro and groups from the southern tablelands, south coast and northern Victoria visited these peaks for thousands of years to feast on the bogong moths which gather here in summer and to conduct trade and perform cultural and spiritual ceremonies.

Stockmen began visiting the mountains from the 1830s in search of summer pasture and it is possible that some of them would have climbed the mountain.

Change of Name

In 1997 the Geographical Names Board of NSW agreed to a proposal that the spelling be changed to “Kosciuszko,” the correct spelling of the name of the famous Polish freedom fighter.

The board accepted that Strzelecki spelt the name with a “z.”