 In separate expeditions, William Ernest Powell Giles and William Christie Gosse were the first European explorers to this area.In 1872 while exploring the area, Ernest Giles sighted Kata Tjuta from near Kings Canyon and called it Mount Olga, while the following year Gosse saw Uluru and named it Ayers Rock after Sir Henry Ayers, the Chief Secretary of South Australia.Further explorations followed with the aim of establishing the possibilities of the area for pastoralism.