Stephen King was one of the men who accompanied John McDouall Stuart on his last expedition. His sketchbook recorded details of the expedition from the setting out, the triumphant raising of the flag on the north coast, and the tragedy of the stretcher party carrying Stuart.

King was not quite 20 years old when he set out with Stuart, only John Billiatt was younger by a few months. After applying to join the expedition King, along with WP Auld, another young member of the team, was set to breaking in some of the horses that had been acquired for the expedition. These horses had been brought down from Chambers property on the River Murray and were completely unbroken to harness and pack saddle. King and Auld also tested all the water bags, pack saddles and packs to ensure that these would be strong enough to withstand the rigours of expedition use. Stuart came to rely greatly on King, recording his confidence in the young man's reliability and care in carrying out his duties. He named a chain of waterholes after him: King's Ponds.

After the Stuart expedition, Stephen King would later explore the Northern Territory with another party under Fred Litchfield and subsequently join the Overland Telegraph Line construction party as an explorer and surveyor.

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