Schoemansdal: Van Voortrekkervoorpos tot volksfeesterrein

Abstract

In 1856 A.H. Potgieter and Louis Trichardt had already selected a site for a town at the foot of the Soutpansberg. This town, however, was only built in 1848 after Potgieter's party had left Ohrigstad because of his desire to live beyond the British sphere of influence and the need for a northern route to communicate with Inhambane. At first called Oude Dorp, the name of the town was later changed to Soutpansbergdorp and in 1855 to Schoemansdal. It was an attractive town and flourished because of hunting, the ivory trade, agriculture and the salt pan near it. Itinerant and ivory traders provided the necessities of life, and constituted the community's main link with the outside world. The arrival of the Rev. Van Warmelo in 1864 and the teacher Van Boeschoten in 1866 added much to the spiritual and social welfare of the community. The town was eventually evacuated in 1867 because of the Transvaal government's irresolute attitude towards the struggle of the inhabitants with the Venda. Only in 1898 was a new town, Louis Trichardt, founded near by.