What is the origin of the phrase "I'm bushed!" as in, "I am very tired"?

The term came from Dutch settlers for the "wilderness" but was then modified to bush.

http://www.brownielocks.com/wordorigins.html

There seems to be some disagreement about the origin of the expression. While some sites offer the Dutch explanation, others claim that "I'm bushed" comes from the Australian bush -- that it originally referred to being lost in the bush or simply exhausted from having to make one's way through it or live there.

The Dutch theory sounds slightly more authentic to me.

Scroll down to "Walking and Talking to Trees":


http://www.word-detective.com/120505.html

I found the same answer on the same page but for some reason couldn't copy and paste it...don't know what's up with that??

Don't think this will be very helpful, but in my student days this would have sounded as if you said "I did not come through my exams". "Ik ben gebuisd". Usually this is explained as relating to the tradition that in 19th century students who did not come through their exams, made fun of themselves by having themselves carried around town sitting in a coach with a solemn "buishoed" (tall hat) on their heads.Self-mockery, once a student speciality. "Gebuisd zijn" = to have flunked.
Today's students would probably make a link with George W.Bush, but I prefer not to explain in what sense it would have to be understood.
The correct link for "bush" is quite clearly the Dutch word "bos" (wood). "I am bushed" might then indeed be understood as: I am lost in the woods. From being lost one may become tired. But how the Dutch word "bush" travelled to Australia is another pair of shoes. (Of course there was Abel Tasman.)
By the way we still say "iemand het bos insturen" "to send somebody into the woods" meaning to fool somebody, to pull someone's leg.

Thanks, Flem-ish. I knew you'd have some interesting comments.

All very interesting. Thanks everybody!