Johannesburg Johannesburg were destroyed and their people driven away during the wars emanating from Zululand during the late 18th and early 19th centuries (the mfecane or difaqane wars), and as a result, an offshoot of the Zulu kingdom, the Ndebele (often referred to as the Matabele, the name given them by the local Sotho–Tswana), set up a kingdom to the northwest of Johannesburg around modern-day Rustenburg. The main Witwatersrand gold reef was discovered in June 1884 on the farm Vogelstruisfontein by Jan Gerritse Bantjes that triggered the Witwatersrand Gold Rush and the founding of Johannesburg in 1886. The discovery of gold
Roderick S. McCook Roderick S. McCook Commander Roderick Sheldon McCook (10 March 1839 – 13 February 1886) was an officer in the United States Navy. He was a member of the famed family of American Civil War soldiers and sailors, the "Fighting McCooks." Born at New Lisbon, Ohio, McCook was appointed midshipman 21 September 1854. From 1859 to 1861, he cruised off the coast of Africa, searching for and capturing slavers. During the Civil War, he served in "Minnesota" (1861), "Stars and Stripes" (1862), and "Canonicus" (1863–65). As executive officer of latter ship, he participated in operations along the James River and in