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

occupied a room which cost them fifteen rubles ($7.50) per month, an amount far in excess of what they could com- fortably afford. Discouraged by the frustration of their plans and the incredible hardships of the journey, they were still far from despon- dent. Three teachers in the party, Emil Riesen, Hermann Bartsch, and a man named Sterkel, set up a school for the children, while the adults resumed their interminable theological disputation.’ Throughout the winter theological and social arguments increased and Claas Epp became the center of controversy. Some in the party desired to go directly south of the city of Turkestan to Bukhara be- cause they believed God would have them hurry to the place of gathering; others wanted to see relatives in Kaplan Bek before carrying out the Lord’s will; a minority faction, not wanting to join the Bukhara journey because they concluded Epp was a religious fanatic, made plans to go to the Aulie Ata region of northeastern Turkestan. These three factions argued constantly. Epp was unable to resolve their differences, and his popularity waned so much that his prophetic lectures had fewer and fewer people in the congrega- tion. In fact, Epp’s inability to provide inspiration and leadership for the entire dissident group during this hard winter proved a far more serious problem than any of their physical sufferings of the journey so far. Trip to Serabulak By February 1882, with indecision and dissension still growing, it was decided to send three men from Epp’s train to Tashkent to inquire about a settlement. They returned without having ob- tained any firm commitment; many then wanted to bypass Tash- Final Treks of 1881 135 + 5 aLoe . , 7 ; hy ig 2 ~ ae ea, P i == wf + Free rere y reine fibe Ti A Hi ; | lf eet ~ oh That i Ribty?* fir HN Ts <2 es aa a — x 4 oi rr "We i if n Since the Muslims used their mosque only on Friday and Saturday, they invited the Mennonites to worship there on Sunday. kent altogether and go directly to Serabulak to meet the rest of the Bride Community. Other counsels prevailed against this very long des- ert journey through the Kysil Kum wasteland, however. On March 31, the entire party left the city of Turkestan for Tashkent." Spring thunderstorms, melting snows, and flooded rivers made progress extremely difficult. With mud flowing over the wheels of the wagons, they decided to halt for a while in the little Kirghiz village of Ikhan to wait for better weather. Leaving Ikhan on April 27, they drove through fertile grasslands and had reached Chimkent by May 13. It was here that twelve families who were opposed to the settlement in Bukhara seceded from the party in order to join relatives in the newly formed settlement of Aulie Ata in northern Turkestan. When Epp’s party at last arrived in Tashkent, he began talking about traveling either to Afghanistan or the 100 miles across Bukhara to Shar-i