The Great Trek of the Russian Mennonites to Central Asia, 1880-1884, Fred Richard Belk, 1976

) to remain in the settlement. Appeal to America for Aid Realizing that a parting of the ways was inevitable, these men had been corresponding with Heinrich Zimmerman of Beatrice, Ne- braska, and Peter Claassen of Newton, Kansas, for some time. Since these American Mennonites promised that they would receive financial aid to come to America, it seemed to them that the Lord was leading them westward. In fact, many American Mennonite brethren had reg- istered a willingness to help. Many began opening their pocketbooks as well as their hearts to their Central Asia brethren. During 1883 alone, 6533 rubles, or well over $3200, had been contributed by pri- vate individuals to aid Mennonites in Central Asia. Many of these rel- atives and friends had warned them earlier against going to Central Asia, but when they saw the plight of brethren in need they responded faithfully nonetheless.’ Help from Distant Plains This seeking of assistance from America was a natural recourse because of the many Russian Mennonites who had settled there during the major migration a decade earlier. Many were relatives, and they had corresponded cohscientiously throvghout the intervening years. Some of these letters had found their way into newspapers read by the Mennonite communities. One such paper, Der Christliche 178 The Great Trek of the Russian Mennonites Bundesbote, published by David Schmidt in Halstead, Kansas, took pride in informing its readership of happenings in other parts of the world. David Georz, its editor, periodically wrote editorials and even put in notices concerning gifts to Central Asian Mennonites. The im- portance of the publicity newspapers gave these needy people is in- estimable. Through these friends who communicated by way of news- print, it was soon learned that more than 20 of the Lausan families were planning to come to America. They would travel by wagon along the western side of the Aral Sea to Orenburg, obtain passports, go by train to Bremen, Germany, and take a Lloyd Lines Steamship to New York. From there a train would carry them to the American plains states. Encouraging letters from America were received in Lausan during March and early April 1884. Owing to all this informal encouragement and a growing interest among all Mennonite communities about the plans of the Central Asian refugees, several organizations were formed in order to aid them systematically. Of these groups the “Board of Guardians’ of Newton, Kansas, and the “Aid Committee for the Needy in Khiva’ of Beatrice, Nebraska, were the most active. Soon an effort was made to combine the efforts of these two important organizations. They had tended to draw into their scope the smaller aid associations, and it was believed that a single all-out effort could save all the brethren in Central Asia.* At the instigation of Peter Claassen of Newton, a group of in- fluential men who had been individually sending help to Cent