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

eptember 7, 1880), 134; Am Trakt: Eine mennonitische Kolonie in mit- tleren Wolgagebiet, Vol. V1 of Historische Schriftenreihe des Echo-Verlags (North Kildonan, Manitoba, 1948), p. 18. 27. Ibid. 28. Wall later parted with Epp’s teachings and settled in Aulie Ata; Toews later became minister of a Mennonite church in Newton, Kansas; Bartsch, after years in Tur- kestan, returned to the Trakt to become a teacher and write a book about the trek; Klaassen died on the trip to Bukhara, but a son, Michael, later became a minister in Bessie, Oklahoma; J. K. Penner later became a teacher and minister in Beatrice, Ne- braska, while his brother remained faithful to Epp for years; Jantzen became one of the outstanding wagon masters of the trek. Martin Klaassen’s book was written in 1873 and is entitled Geschichte der Wehrlosen Taufgesinnten Gemeinden. See Walter Klaassen, ““A Belated Reivew: Martin Klaassen’s ‘Geschichte Der Wehrlosen Tauf-Gesinnten Ge- meinden, Published in 1873” MOR, XLIX (January, 1975), 43 ff. 29. ZH (September 7, 1880), pp. 3-4. 30. Johannes Janzen, “The Mennonite Colony in Turkestan,’ MQR, IV, No. 4 (October, 1930), 282; Stumpp, HB (1964), p. 15. 31. Bartsch, Unser Auszug, p. 21. Chapter 7 1. Klaassen, “‘Memories of a Journey” (MS in MHLA, 40 pp., n.p., n.d.), p. 2. 2. ZH (September 7, 1880), p. 133. 3. Dates are according to the Julian calendar in the Mennonite writings of this period. To convert to the Gregorian calendar in use in the West, add twelve days. 4. Bartsch, Unser Auszug, p. 24; Am Trakt, p. 18. 5. Ibid. The numbers used here are taken from the account of Franz Bartsch, who was a member of this wagon train. Other sources disagree as to the actual number. Hermann Bartsch, Franz’s brother, who was also on the trip, stated that 2] wagons and 11 families were in the group; DB (November 12, 1947), p. 5, mentioned 18 wagons and 10 families; Hermann Jantzen in “Ihr sollt meine Zeugen sein’ (MS, n.p., n.d., in possession of John Wiebe, Whitewater, Kansas) agreed with DB; and GB (October, 1880), p. 76, states that 11 families and 21 wagons took part. 6. Bartsch, Unser Auszug, pp. 26-27; Krahn, “A Mennonite Refuge in Central Notes 209 Asia,” Mennonite Weekly Review (April 29, 1948), p. 8; Jantzen, ‘Ihr sollt meine Zeu- gen sein.” The village of Hahnsau was sold to a Mr. Muller of Wahrenburg. Perhaps this is one reason why Claas Epp turned back. Muller later sold ail the land of the vil- lage to the Russian government, making a great profit. See Carl R. Jantzen, “A Brief Sketch of My Ancestors,” p. 5. 7. BM. 8. Klaassen, ‘Memories of a Journey,” p. 11. 9. Arlin G. Claassen, ‘A Study of the Mennonites in Russia’ (research paper, Bethel College, 1959), p. 5. 10. BM; Jantzen, “Memories,” pp. 5-6. 11. Bartsch, Unser Auszug, pp. 24-25; 35-38; Jantzen, “Memories,” pp. 4-7; Stumpp, HB (1964), p. 15. The Bartsch Map erroneously dates the departure October 15, 1880.