 The first known recorded sighting of the waterfall by a colonial was that of John William Adams, an emigrant of in early January 1837, who named it "Adams' Waterfall".He was traveling with his wife, Susanna and a party consisting of Nicholson's and Breaker's who had the use of a dray to go into the hills.Adams states "we were opposite the spot where the Eagle on the Hill now is, and the question was put, who would volunteer to go down the hillside to try for water".