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

grate- ful for a place to stay while they rested before embarking on the second half of the trip. The children were the first to notice their pleasant surroundings — beautiful shade trees and a pond — and they all thanked God for their good fortune. The Samarkand sojourn was not free from pressing responsibili- ties and worries, however. Several members of the party had be- come very ill on the journey. Martin Klaassen, author of a book on Mennonite history, appeared on the brink of death. Though he soon No-Man’s-Land: Between Khan and Czar 117 recovered, another of the brethren, Peter Pauls, died unexpectedly and was buried in a nearby cemetery. Moreover, the young men in the party were notified that they must register, indicating that if they ever returned to Russian soil from Bukhara they would be subject to the military draft. Despite these dreary aspects of their Samarkand stay, a number of the party found the ancient city fascinating. They were intrigued by the decayed aspect of Tamer- lane's tomb and impressed by the four 200-foot towers facing the marketplace.°® After this variety of experiences they left Samarkand on the morning of August 26, 188], and reached the Russian frontier gar- rison village of Katakurgan just one month after leaving Tashkent. The three-day journey to Katakurgan was the most difficult, because wind gusts caught the wagon canvas and caused the wagons to sway, while dust and dirt covered everything. In fact, one wagon was caught in a driving gust of wind and sent tumbling down a deep ravine. The occupants, a twelve-year-old-girl and her small sister, surprisingly enough, were unhurt.’ Resting in Katakurgan for a few days, they gathered additional supplies and made necessary wagon repairs. Arrival at Bukhara On September 1, the Bukhara travelers crossed the border into the khanate. Though dreadfully rutted roads had been hard on wagon wheels and caused considerable delay, they passed across the fron- tier, which was simply marked by a wooden post with Russian letter- ing. After going eight miles into Bukhara, they camped for the night in their usual circle fashion in an area they later learned was called Cherein Chatun.° At dawn the next day they were awakened by a band of armed officials who suspiciously wrote down facts and figures about the number of people, wagons, and the value of the property they had with them. Two of the emigrants were asked to accompany the offi- cials to make their report to the local governor or bek. He received them cordially and told the representatives that he had to report their whereabouts to the khan and would let the group know what the khan said about their situation in about three days. Disheartened, the men returned to camp and told the rest of the group what had transpired.° 118 The Great Trek of the Russian Mennonite: Expulsion from Bukhara Fatigued as they were from their journey, the anxious pilgrims feared