The Indigenous name for Mount Crawford was Teetáka. The mount was given its present name in 1839 by Charles Sturt after James Coutts Crawford (1817-1889). Crawford had a Royal Navy background. He and his drovers arrived overland from NSW in April 1839 with 700 cattle, setting up a hut and cattle run at the base of the mount. Crawford soon moved on to be a pioneer of Wellington, New Zealand.