When the twelve delegates who had visited North America returned to Russia in the autumn of 1873, they reported that land was abundant and the terms generally liberal. In Bergthal emigration fever ran high, but several obstacles still needed to be faced before the people could leave. Land and property had to be sold, often at a considerable loss, and it was difficult to obtain the necessary exit documents. Fearing the possible loss of the majority of Mennonite farmers, Alexander II sent a special envoy, General Von Todtleben, to persuade the Mennonites to remain.

Todtleben had the authority to withhold passports but is said to have decided against it so as not to arouse the fears and suspicions of the remainder of the colonists. Had he chosen to block emigration the Mennonites would have faced the same economic hardship or worse than they faced 80 years earlier leaving Prussia. Even so, Todtleben attempted to coerce the representative of the Bergthal colony, Gerhard Wiebe, first by embarrassing him at a meeting they both attended, then through various demands, and finally by forcing the colony to send representatives to the regional governor to retrieve the passports. While the majority of the Mennonite population chose to accept the Russian government's offer to do alternative service and thus avoid military conscription, a total of about one-third of the Russian Mennonite population chose to emigrate in the 1870's.

The Bergthal colonists intended to leave Russia over a three year period, 1874-1876, pooling some of the money obtained from the sale of the land to help defray the expenses of the poorer people. Even the sale of the land became an obstacle for a time. The Justice of the Peace for the colony decided to not release the legal documents necessary for completion of the sale. Only after the supervisor of the Jewish colonies intervened and arranged a meeting at which Jacob Peters, one of the delegates to Canada, paid a 500 ruble "gift" were the papers released.

It was difficult to sell the land, and the prices obtained were low, but eventually the villages were sold: Bergthal to the Catholics from Grunau, Schonfeld to the Lutherans, Friedrichstal to the Russians, and Heuboden and Schonthal to another group. By 1876 all property of the Bergthal settlement had been sold and the last of the 400 families (about 3,000 people) had left. The last contingent of eighty families departed on July 19, 1876.

Imagine the tears that must have flowed when one group, waiting at the train station in 1875 to leave for Canada, turned and saw flames rising over the village of Bergthal. Almost half the village burned to the ground, started by a fire too close to one of the thatch roofs.

Travel plans were complicated by the policy of the Russian imperial government which did not allow the shipping companies to pick up the travelers from Russian ports. Most of the emigrants from the Molotschna, Chortitza, and other south Russian colonies traveled down the Dnieper by boat, to the Black Sea, across to Odessa, then overland by train to Hamburg. Five shipping lines transported the immigrants by different routes, depending on their destination. Those going to Canada were taken via Hull and Liverpool, eventually landing in Quebec. Those going to the United States generally were taken either directly to New York, or via Antwerp to Philadelphia.

In 1874 the first and largest group left Bergthal via Hamburg for Ontario arriving in Winnipeg on July 31, 1874. The following is a description of what they encountered on that trip.

"The initial Bergthal group left their colony on June 15, 1874, travelling via Khar'kov, Koenigsberg, Berlin, Hamburg, and Hull to Liverpool. Here they boarded a ship, probably the Nova Scotian shown in this photo, on July 2, being honored by cannon shots as they passed six British warships. Gliding through fields of icebergs they entered St. John's harbor eight days later, July 10.

After calling in Halifax the ship headed for Quebec City, arriving on July 15. There the Bergthaler boarded trains and traveled through Montreal to Toronto where they were greeted by a group of Canadian Mennonites…A further six hour train ride brought them to Collingwood where they boarded a ship, then proceeded to Duluth (July 27), and from Duluth to Moorhead by train.

From Moorhead (MN) some people rode on the baggage barges, others traveled by river steamer on the "International." On August 3 (August 15 on the Gregorian calendar), a rainy and windy day, the weary settlers arrived at the confluence of the Rat and Red Rivers. Here they spent the first night in tents or any makeshift shelters they could find. The next day the women, children and luggage were loaded onto oxcarts, and the men walked the five miles to the immigration sheds….The trip had taken about seven weeks, during which time they were on eleven different trains, on five ships and traveled two stretches on wagons."

Peter Harder (b.1843) and Johann F Sawatzky (b.1843) and families migrated to the Mountain Lake, MN, area in 1875 and 1876, respectively. Peter Harder and his family came crossed the Atlantic on the SS Moravian arriving in Quebec on July 1, 1875.

This ad for a farm implement factory run by Minard Harder was printed in newspapers during 1859. Aside from the interesting "horsepower" feature of this implement, this advertisement raises the question, "Where did those Harder's come from? Where they part of an earlier Mennonite migration direct from Holland or Switzerland?" The answer to those questions could shed light on the origins of the Harder surname.

Between 1873 and 1879 some 10,000 Mennonites in all settled in Kansas, Nebraska, Illinois, Minnesota and the Dakotas. Everywhere they went they brought with them the skill and dedication that was so coveted by authorities both in Russia and in North America. As an example, Bernhard Warkentin brought from the Ukraine the Turkey red wheat which became a major crop in the Midwest, being superior to the local wheat, for producing flour.

The settlers arriving in Kansas didn't have an easy life. Making the prairie produce a saleable crop was far from easy. For housing, it was quite common to construct the dwelling from mud bricks with a sod roof. Apparently, quite a few built "dugouts" which may have been easier to insulate from the harsh winters.

About 1800 Mennonites settled in Minnesota. The arrival of the Mennonites caused quite a stir. A special commissioner of immigration was responsible for coaxing interested parties to settle there. On Dec 20, 1873, William Seeger wrote to Horace Austin, then governor of the state of Minnesota as follows. "In compliance with your request, I have devoted my time and services during the last summer and fall to the important business of immigration in general, and especially to that of the German-Russian Mennonites, and have now the honor to report." He goes on to note that a group of about 180 families arrived from the colonies the summer before and chose to settle in Yankton, Dakota Territory, with an aggregate capital of about $500,000.

To see the arrival of the newcomers through the eyes of some of the residents, I include this quote taken from the Red River Star, Moorhead, MN, dated July 25, 1875.

Almost 7,000 settled in Manitoba. They came to preserve the faith, to plant the seeds of the true New Testament church, and to fulfill the vision for which their fathers and mothers had suffered so much. Once again they left behind the oppression, discrimination, and intolerance they had experienced, especially a rising militarism that demanded their money and their sons.

During 1874-1876 500 families from Bergthal colony totaling about 3000 persons arrived in Manitoba to settle on the east side of the Red River in what was to be known as the East Reserve. In 1875 300 families arrived from Chortitza colony and Furstenland to settle west of the Red River in what came to be known as the West Reserve. Then in 1880 some 300 settlers from the East Reserve resettled in the West Reserve, thus introducing the Bergthaler influence into the West Reserve.

The table in the footnotes provides a quick summary of the quantity of people arriving in Canada during this period. Take note that it does not include the 10,000 immigrants who came to the United States via Philadelphia and other ports. For an overview of the various migrations to the U.S. see the table entitled "Mennonites that came to the US."

The first Mennonite settlers to arrive in the Mt Lake, MN, area came in 1873. The town already existed when they arrived. By 1880 295 families had settled there. Most of the families came from the Molotschna colony. In addition, some Mennonites from the Manitoba settlements, originally from the Chortitza colony, moved to Mt Lake. Later when Saskatchewan invited settlers to come and homestead, 157 families picked up and moved from the Mt Lake area to that province in Canada.

Butterfield came into being in 1876 with the arrival of the first Mennonite settlers. During the 1880's and 1890's families from the city of Lemberg, in the province of Galicia, Austria arrived as well. These people are commonly referred to as the "Galician" Mennonites in reference to their point of origin.

In this article which appeared in the not entirely unbiased St. Paul Press, a report was given of the visit of the delegates from the Ukraine. Included in the group were delegates Jacob Buller, Andreas Schraag, Tobias Unruh, Louh Sudermann, Paul Schetter, Lorin Schetter and a delegate from Prussia, W. Ewert. Notably absent were the two delegates from Bergthal colony, Peters and Wiebe. It appears that the Bergthal delegates disliked the US while the other delegates preferred the US. On June 26, several of the delegates on the tour decided they had seen enough of Manitoba and departed for Moorhead, MN.

In the interview with the delegates it is reported they said, "They were not pleased with the soil, or the people of Manitoba - in fact, were disgusted by their reception and treatment…They have since examined a considerable stretch of territory in Dakota and western Minnesota and with the latter, particularly, are more than pleased--are delighted."

This may shed some light on the sizable concentration of Mennonites in southwestern Minnesota and how they ended up settling there. Whether the delegates' opinions of Manitoba were fair and accurate is not important. In all likelihood, the choices were based on subjective preferences, as so often happens in human society.

The Mennonites had a sense of humor also. Clarence Hiebert, in his excellent scrapbook on Mennonite Immigrants, includes this quote attributed to one William Sanford.

Children of Peter Quiring (1835-1900) and Kathrina Fast (1833-1900)
Peter P Quiring	Jun 1, 1858	Apr 22, 1924
Jacob P Quiring	May 11, 1860	Feb 28, 1939
Johann P Quiring	Sep 9, 1862	May 29, 1931
Abraham P Quiring	Feb 26, 1865	Feb 21, 1936
Helena Quiring	Mar 24, 1867	Dec 31, 1870
Heinrich P Quiring	Jun 3, 1869	Jul 23, 1878
Cornelius P Quiring	Mar 21, 1872	Jul 22, 1878
Gerhard P Quiring	Jan 19, 1874	Dec 16, 1953
Kathrina Quiring	May 5,1878	Jan 10, 1937

Helena died at 3 years of age in Dec 1870, in Wernersdorf, Molotschna colony. Brothers Heinrich and Cornelius died within a day of each other of diphtheria and were buried in a double funeral on July 24, 1878. Brothers Peter and Johann moved to and settled in Saskatchewan apparently in the 1920's.

Children of Peter P Quiring (1858-1924) and Maria Reimer (1858-1940)
Katharina Quiring	Born Mar 11, 1881	Nov 17, 1976 Herbert, Sask.
Agatha Quiring	Mar 26, 1882	Feb 4, 1966 Herbert, Sask.
Maria Quiring	Mar 4, 1885	May 24, 1962 Herbert, Sask.
Peter Quiring	Mar 4, 1885	Mar 12, 1946 Swallwell, Alberta
Franz Quiring	May 22, 1886	Apr 16, 1962 Rosthern, Sask.
Jacob Quiring	Jul 11, 1888	May 30, 1964 Swift Current, Sask.
John Quiring	Dec 10, 1889	Sep 5, 1974 Swift Current, Sask.
Anna Quiring	Sep 4, 1891	Jan 24, 1970 Herbert, Sask.
Helena Quiring	Mar 15, 1893	Mar 16, 1893
Abraham Quiring	May 16, 1894	Sep 11, 1973 Abbottsford, BC
Helena Quiring	May 29, 1896	Jan 30, 1981 Steinbach, Manitoba
Elizabeth Quiring	Dec 28, 1897	Apr 8, 1982 Carmichael, CA

Children of Johann Quiring (1862-1931) and Elizabeth Willems (1862-1927)
Tinna Quiring	Born Oct 1885	Died Nov 1885
Liese Quiring	Oct 1885	Nov 1885
Gerhard Quiring	May 5, 1887	Oct 9, 1914
Katharina Quiring	Nov 7, 1890	Dec 3, 1983
Peter J Quiring	Jun 3, 1892	Feb 29, 1976
John E Quiring	Apr 7, 1894	Jan 4, 1977
Elizabeth Quiring	Jul 9, 1896	Nov 10, 1980

Abraham had meningitis at age 4 and suffered some brain damage. He lived with his parents, and brothers and sisters for over 40 years, then was placed in an institution at Faribault on Oct 16, 1912, where he remained till death in Feb of 1936.

Kathrina married Jacob D Kroeker in Minnesota in May of 1909. Subsequently they moved to Inverness, MT, in 1913 or 1914. Kathrina passed away on Mar 5, 1900. She died from the effects of a stroke on the left side, suffered on Dec 29, 1899.

Children of Jacob D Kroeker (1878-1952) and Kathrina Quiring (1878-1937)
Tiena Kroeker	Born May 27, 1910	Died Sep 14, 1980 Devils Lake, ND
Dietrich Kroeker	Sep 30, 1912	Oct 3, 1923 Devils Lake, ND
Helena Kroeker	Apr 12, 1915
Martha Kroeker	Oct 27, 1917

Brothers Jacob and Gerhard lived in the Mountain Lake, MN, area.

Children of Jacob Quiring (1860-1939) and Anna Regehr (1859-1896)
Katharina Quiring	May 9, 1883	Jan 18, 1972
John Jacob Quiring	Jul 3, 1884	Mar 8, 1968 Abbottsford, BC
Peter Quiring	Sep 17, 1885	Dec 6, 1952 Saskatoon, Sask.
Maria Quiring	Jan 30, 1887	Jun 10, 1935
Anna Quiring	Dec 18, 1889	Dec 17, 1969
Elizabeth Quiring	Mar 8, 1891	Aug 10, 1934
Jacob J Quiring	Apr 24, 1893	Apr 18, 1936 Michigan
Abraham Quiring	Aug 4, 1895	1966

Gerhard P Quiring raised his family in Mt Lake, MN. See "A Family Portrait - In the US."

Children of Peter Harder (1843-1929) and Aganetha Friesen (1851-1932)
Katherina Harder	May 10, 1871	Feb 24, 1949 in MN
Ana Harder	Mar 31, 1873	Oct 7, 1875 in Ontario
Aganeta Harder	Jan 23, 1875	Jan 2, 1876 in Ontario
Aganetha Harder	Jul 3, 1877	Dec 16, 1927 in Butterfield ?
Peter Harder	Jun 10, 1880	Apr 4, 1882 in Butterfield, MN
Peter P Harder	Jun 20, 1883	Oct 17, 1962 in Mankato, MN
Abraham P Harder	Mar 28, 1886	Jul 12, 1953 in Warroad, MN
Jacob P Harder	Dec 13, 1888	Jun 8, 1911
Maria Harder	Oct 15, 1891	Jan 25, 1986 in Stanley, ND
David P Harder	Oct 29, 1894	Jan 28, 1954 in Mt Lake, MN?
Anna Harder	Feb 22, 1898	May 1, 1898 in Butterfield, MN
John P Harder	Jun 22, 1900	Jun 23, 1900 in Butterfield, MN

Peter and Aganetha were married on Jul 3, 1870 in the Bergthal colony. The family emigrated from the Ukraine in July of 1875, arriving in Quebec on Jul 1, 1875. In Oct 1875, their second-born daughter, Ana, died at the age of 2 years old, just months after their arrival. Three months later, in Jan of 1876, the third-born daughter, Aganeta, just one year old, passed away.

Having settled in Butterfield, they continued to deal with personal tragedy. Son Peter died in the spring of 1882, just a little more than one year old. Anna, the eleventh child born into this family, passed away after just 3 months, in May of 1898. Peter and Aganetha's 12^th child, John P, passed away just a day after being born. In 1911 Jacob P, after reaching 22 years of age, passed away as well. This left them with 6 surviving children: 3 boys and 3 girls.

Aganetha married Bernard Toews (pronounced taves) in Butterfield, MN, in Jan of 1904. They moved to Weidenfeld, Manitoba, during that year as their first child was born in Weidenfeld.

Children of Bernard Toews (1863-1927) and Aganetha Harder (1877-1927)
David B Toews	Born Mar 1, 1905	Mar 20, 1966
Aganetha Toews	Jul 1, 1908	Feb 24, 1954
Erdman B Toews	Feb 24, 1911
Sarah Toews	Aug 19, 1914
Elizabeth Toews	Mar 25, 1918
Aron Toews	Jun 5, 1920	Jul 10, 1920

Katherina married Peter Buhr on the family farm north of Butterfield, MN, in Feb of 1891. They settled down in the Mt Lake, MN area.

Children of Peter Buhr (1866-1938) and Katherina Harder (1871-1949)
Helena Buhr	Born Mar 29, 1892	Nov 14, 1983
Peter P Buhr	Aug 10, 1893	Oct 13, 1983 Mt Lake, MN
Aganetha Buhr	Jun 22, 1894	Apr 12, 1895
Erdman P Buhr	Jan 7, 1897	Jul 26, 1966
Jacob P Buhr	Jan 3, 1898
Aganetha Buhr	Nov 27, 1900	Dec 21, 1977
Katharina Buhr	Apr 23, 1902	Apr 29, 1902
John P Buhr	Jun 6, 1903	Nov 5, 1974
David P Buhr	Dec 10, 1906	Jan 22, 1990
Katharina Buhr	Dec 12, 1908
Henry P Buhr	Dec 5, 1910	Jun 7, 1967
Mary Buhr	Sep 23, 1913	May 28, 1969
Theodore P Buhr	Mar 14, 1919

Abraham P Harder married Katherina Krahn in Jul of 1910, in Mt Lake, MN. During 1916/1917 when many of the families in Butterfield and Mt Lake, MN, were having difficulty making ends meet, Abraham along with several families moved to Lostwood, ND. By this time they had four children in tow. In 1936 he moved his family to Warroad, MN.

Children of Abraham P Harder (1886-1953) and Katherina Krahn (1889-1987)
Katherina Harder	Born Apr 23, 1911	Married Frank Heppner
Peter A Harder	Oct 25, 1912	Married Irene Jordon
Aganetha Harder	May 6, 1914	Married Otto Unruh
Marie Ann Harder	Sep 7, 1915	Married Clarence Newcomber
Fredrick Isaac Harder	Sep 17, 1917	Married Ruth Carlson
Margaret Harder	Apr 18, 1919	Married Abraham Thiessen
Orie Abram Harder	Mar 30, 1921	Married Luela Houle
George Ray Harder	Nov 28, 1923
Dorothy Harder	Apr 13, 1925	Married Alfred Heppner
Anna Harder	Apr 19, 1926	Married Jacob Heppner
Cornelius A Harder	Jun 28, 1928	Married Dorothy Dick
Martha Ruth Harder	Oct 13, 1932	Married Norbert Fast

David P Harder married Anna Derksen in Dec of 1915, in Mt Lake, MN. They moved to Lostwood, ND along with the other families. Sometime in the early 1920's, they moved back to Mt Lake, MN, eventually settling in the Butterfield, MN, area.

Children of David P Harder (1894-1954) and Anna Winifred Derksen (1889-1947)
Mathilda Loletta Harder	Nov 19, 1916	Married Peter S Dick
Frank Raymond Harder	Oct 14, 1918	Married Helen Peterson
Walter Dave Harder	Jul 15, 1920	Married Maxine Miller
Marie Myrtle Harder	Aug 11, 1921	Married Loenhard Schlueter
Hazel Henrietta Harder	Mar 22, 1925	Married Jack Hanes
David Duane Harder	Jul 8 1928	Died July 25, 1934
Robert Donald Harder	Jul 5, 1936	Married Barbara Siljestrom

Maria Harder married Claus Enns in Apr of 1911, in Mt Lake, MN. They moved to Lostwood, ND, probably in 1916 at the same time the other family members moved there. They stayed in Lostwood when the rest of the family moved to other parts in the 1930's. Marie passed away in Stanley, ND, in 1986.

Children of Claus C Enns (1884-1954) and Maria Harder (1891-1986)
Peter H Enns	Jul 8, 1912	Married Susan Friesen
Aganetha Enns	Jan 10, 1914	Married Henry Sheets
Marie Enns	Mar 27, 1915	Married Oliver Afseth
Glenn Enns	Mar 3, 1928	Married Margaret Glimsdale
Ann Enns	Mar 5, 1928	Married Reece McGee

Peter P Harder married Margaret Sawatzky in Minnesota, in May 1905. See "A Family Portrait - In the US."

Why did they move again and again? Was it because of conscience? Then, what about those who stayed behind in the Ukraine or Prussia because they felt God calling them to stay and minister to their neighbors and friends? What seems clear is that those who did move in each case, did so because they refused the pressure to violate their conscience and be assimilated by the political and cultural system of the day.

Certainly there were economic incentives and opportunities ahead also. But given the losses they suffered often leaving behind the majority of the material wealth they had in their possession, that hardly seems to be a plausible explanation for the large numbers that migrated. More likely, they followed in the footsteps of their spiritual forefathers who gave their lives in the 15^th, 16^th, and 17^th centuries, counting it a joy to remain faithful to their Lord and Savior.