In 1841, following the 1839 explorations and discoveries of John Hill and Edward John Eyre in South Australia's Mid North, both Campbell and Stein took out occupation licences there and pioneered their own sheep runs.
Among Stein's shepherds, watching his flocks upon the unfenced run, were several "Afghan" men, also described as "coolies", originally brought as servants from India by E.B. Gleeson, a settler at nearby Clare.