The ranges were first explored by white settlers in 1828. The party was headed by Allan Cunningham and Patrick Logan while searching for a route to the Darling Downs from the newly established Moreton Bay penal colony. Logan had climbed Mount Barney thinking that he was on Mount Warning until he reached the summit and saw the true Mount Warning further south. Realising they were on another range they named it the McPherson Range. Logan named Wilsons Peak and Mount Shadforth, which is now known as Mount Toowoonan.