The first European explorers through the Mount Pleasant district were Dr George Imlay and John Hill in January 1838. Settlers moved into the area in the late 1830s with flocks of sheep and with bags of grain. One of the early settlers, James Phillis, had arrived in Adelaide in 1839 and literally rode a horse into the Adelaide Hills looking for suitable land to farm. He settled at Mount Pleasant in 1843, planted wheat, harvested the crop, and then had to take it to Adelaide to sell. From the profits he sailed to England where he bought a flock of Romney Marsh sheep which he shipped back to the area. Over the years he became one of the district's most prosperous and successful farmers. This is an extract from an article written by Nancy Mavis Pike (née Phillis). Several of Mt Pleasant's pioneer families were to lose sons in the Great War, like William Polden who is now buried in The Lone Pine Cemetery, Gallipoli.