Sturt and 16 men left Adelaide on 15 August 1844, with 11 horses, 200 sheep, 32 bullocks, six dogs, a number of carts, wagons and a boat. They followed the Darling River north to Menindee Laidley's Ponds. On 15 January 1845 the group reached a waterhole west of the present site of Milparinka. They called this creek Preservation Creek, and named their camp by the waterhole Depot Glen.