A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

), in the McClusky area (ca. 1900) and at Sawyer (1909). After World War II churches were also established in the cities of Minot and Bismarck. Among the pioneer church leaders in North Dakota, Christian Reimche deserves special recognition. He not only served the Harvey congregation for about thirty years, but also assisted in the organization and nurture of other churches. '" The elders H. Adrian (South Dakota) and H. Voth (Minnesota) were frequently invited to serve the young congregations at baptismal, ordination, and dedication services. Growth in membership has been slow during the past few decades. This phenomenon can lie explained partly by the fact that the membership of the older congregations is composed largely of rural people: but it must also be seen in the light of a constant movement of families to the West Coast.' 1 Montana, which was admitted into the Union at the same time as North Dakota (1889), attracted Mennonite settlers to its wide open spaces at the beginning of the twentieth century. General Conference Mennonites and Mennonite Brethren settled along the Missouri River at Frazer and Wolf Point and north as far as Lustre and Larslan in Eastern Valley County during World War I (1915-16). The Mennonite Brethren organized a church at Lustre in 1917. A group at Volt, also organized in 1917, has remained affiliated with the Lustre group. The total membership of the Lustre congregation stood at one hundred and thirty-three in 1952, but had declined to one hundred and sixteen by 1971. A group at Larslan was organized in 1945, but MKNNONITE BRETHREN COME TO THE UNITED STATES 143 membership has remained very small. Small groups of Mennonite Brethren existed for brief periods at Chinook, Whitefish, Hydro, and Poplar. 1 " A cluster of three Mennonite churches in Lustre (M. B., E. M. B. and G. C. M.), support the Lustre Bible Academy, established in 1928, illustrating the close cooperation of all Mennonites in the community. 2. Toward the Rocky Mountains Several things attracted Mennonite settlers to the state known for its lofty mountain peaks. Colorado offered special agricultural resources. The wide arid plain on the eastern slope of the mountains was well adapted for cattle raising and the production of grain and feed crops. The favorable climate also attracted health seekers from the hot and humid plains. The first Mennonite Brethren who settled at Kirk, Colorado, came from Nebraska in the late 1880's. A larger group arrived in 1892 from Marion and Woodson counties in Kansas." Elder David Dyck, who had served the Lehigh congregation for some time, was called to give leadership to the group. The congregation experienced economic hardships and spiritual testings. Periodic droughts resulted in crop failures. Although the land was more suitable for stock-raising than grain-raising. Mennonites were somewhat reluctant to go into cattle-ranching because they did not want the