The Cowpastures emerged as a regional concept in the late 18th century, starting with the story of the cattle of the First Fleet that escaped their captivity at the Sydney settlement. The region was a culturally constructed landscape that ebbed and flowed with European activity. It grew around the government reserve established by Governors Hunter and King. It then developed into a generally used locality name centred on the gentry estates in the area.
The story of the Cowpastures begins with the wild cows. The First Fleet left England in 1787, and HMS Sirius collected four cows and two bulls at the Cape of Good Hope on the way out to New South Wales. They were Cape cattle.