A European Informational Website
learn more
The Voortrekkers (Afrikaans and Dutch for pioneers, literally "those who trek ahead") were emigrants during the 1840s and 1850s from the British Cape Colony into the interior of what is now South Africa. The Great Trek consisted of a number of mass movements under a number of different leaders including Louis Trichardt, Hendrik Potgieter, Sarel Cilliers, Pieter Uys, Gerrit Maritz, Pieter Retief, and Andries Pretorius.