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

urg, the head of one of the families, L. Neumann, died of pneumonia and was buried along the road.’ The 176 miles to Orsk were completed on October 7. Heading south- ward through the hard, flat steppes, they arrived at Karabutak on October 17, after driving through a heavy snowstorm most of the way. The temperature in Karabutak fell to -8 degrees F., but the natives of the city were friendly and helpful, and Mennonite children were invited into their warm homes. The Mennonites appreciated this gesture of friendship all the more because an icy north wind and drifts of snow temporarily halted their progress.* The wagons, white with snow, were so cold that the washing could not be dried, and mothers had to put wet diapers next to their bodies for warmth so babies could be changed. Although much better insulated than the previous wagons that had made the journey, they were still not ade- quate. By this time, four people lay seriously ill in the wagons. * Arrival in Turkestan, December 15, 1881 Snowbound in Karabutak, the colonists conferred soberly about their future. A majority decided that they should join their brethren at Serabulak, the “gathering place’ on the frontier of Bukhara, rather than settling permanently at Tashkent.'° When the snowstorm subsided, they set off once again on the next leg of their journey — one which would be long, perilous, and bitterly cold. At Irgiz, 118 miles further south, they lined their wagons with additional felt, replenished their supplies, and hired Kirghiz camel drivers to carry their extra burden. As they entered the province of Turkestan proper, the snow changed to a freezing drizzle, but the hard-packed sand of their trail allowed them to move a bit faster at least. At Kasalinsk, the party halted for repairs for a few days, then pushed on across the frozen steppe. Arriving at Perovsk on November 27, they found the Syr Darya covered by a treacherous ice flow. Be- fore they reached the city of Turkestan on December 17, the frozen party had encountered temperatures as low as 26 degrees below zero and had been plagued by a grand total of eighteen broken axles. In 134 The Great Trek of the Russian Mennonites the four months of their journey they had covered 1,566 miles under the most appalling conditions. Through it all, the children suffered worst. Six infants had been born along the route. One was dead at birth; another died soon after. In addition, Hermann Jantzen, a baby only one year old, and Franz Abrahams, who was five, succumbed to the murderous cold. !! The party had planned to spend only the Christmas holidays in Turkestan, but the snowdrifts made further progress impossible. Therefore on December 28, the Mennonites took up temporary winter quarters in the city and waited for a break in the weather. The respite was welcome, but the frugal pilgrims fretted over the added expense that winter quarters entailed. The Johann Jantzen family, for example,