The first people to live in the Forbes area were the Australian aborigines, the Wiradjuri people. The first European was the explorer John Oxley in 1817. He called the area "Camp Hill". He did not think very much of the clay soil, poor timber and swamps. He wrote: "...it is impossible to imagine a worse country". The first settlers moved into the district in 1834 and started a station (farm) called "Bogabigal". Forbes is built on what was Arthur Rankin's farm called "Cunumbla" Station.