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

the Turkestan experience. No other native group so influenced Men- nonites as did the Kirghiz. These Black Kirghiz (Kara Kirghiz) living in and around the Alexander Mountains and near Lake Issy-kul, totaled in number about 300,000. The new settlers found their neighbors fascinating and were especially intrigued by their living quarters. The Kirghiz circular tents, or kibitkis, were held up by rods and had walls and a roof covered with felt to soak up water. A small opening at the point of the roof let out smoke from the communal cooking fire. These dwellings were regarded by the new settlers as superior to their own dugouts. During the summer the Kirghiz would take their tents high into the Alexander Mountains, where they could be near their grazing cattle. Although their main livelihood was cattle breeding, they did prac- tice some agriculture, especially rice growing. Their methods of plow- ing and planting seemed rather strange to the systematic Menno- nites. Two animals — either horse and camel, bull and horse, mule and cow, or any other combination — were hitched to a simple wood- en plow which crudely tore up the ground. The brethren were equally amused when they first saw the primitive mode of transpor- tation among their neighbors. They rode horses, camels, donkeys, mules, bulls, or even cows with apparent indifference. They did not use wagons, but loaded whatever they wished to transport upon the backs of their poor beasts. These horses, camels, cattle, and smaller animals provided a staple diet of meat which the Kirghiz ate from a common pot without the use of salt, pepper, or bread. The poorer Kirghiz, however, were far more destitute than even the most pov- erty-stricken Mennonite because they never had sufficient meat to eat. Instead, these poor natives subsisted on a simple diet indeed: a kind of gruel consisting of camel’s milk and roasted millet. With the ex- ception of one small Russian hamlet to the north, the Kirghiz were the only neighbors the Mennonites knew; they formed the sole Ger- New Hope at Aulie Ata 141 man settlement in the vast region between Tashkent and Aulie Ata."* A vast uncultivated prairie frontier faced these dedicated colo- nists. As more people continued to arrive from Tashkent and the number of mouths to feed increased, their early days were full of hardship and deprivation. Some villagers had neither grain to sow nor money to buy any; strong men were eager for hard work, but they needed immediate assistance and did not know where to turn for help in a new land. Fortunately, a rich Russian merchant named Ivanov loaned many of them seed and arranged for a generous installment plan calling for repayment over a five-year period with no interest. He was happy, he told them, to have new farmers in the area. The Mennonites, who had learned to distrust ‘‘unscrupu- lous” Russians, were astonished at his generosity.'* Harsh Winter The approaching winter weat