Immigration > United States > Colorado
Colorado
In 1887, Evangelical Volga Germans from various settlements at Sutton and Lincoln, Nebraska came to Denver, Colorado as workers and founded a colony which would grow to a major settlement over the next twelve years. By 1930, there were about 500 families from Norka, Beideck, Dobrinka, and other Volga German colonies living in the Denver suburb of Globeville and on an adjacent hill to the east, which was known by the settlers as "Dobrinka."
The migration of the Volga Germans to Colorado is connected to the development of the sugar beet industry who sent their agents to Nebraska and Kansas to recruit cheap labor (families with many children were preferred). The Volga Germans had already established themselves as successful farmers and were prime targets for the sugar beet industry recruiters. Sugar refineries were built in 1900 in Sugar City and Rocky Ford. In 1902 and 1903, sugar companies in Loveland and Ft. Collins brought in Volga German laborers.
Colonists from Norka were the first to settle in Windsor arriving in 1902. A small dwelling owned by one of this group served as the chapel for the first pioneers. This group was joined by another group of Volga Germans from Dönhoff in 1904 and by 1930 about 900 Volga German families lived in Windsor and the surrounding area. Most were working as beet farmers and field workers.
From the beginning, the goal of those who responded to the recruiters was to obtain their own land and become self-sufficient farmers. They rapidly went from workers living in tents, to building their own houses, and purchasing their own farms.
By 1910, about 75 percent of all the sugar beet farms between Sterling and Denver were operated by Volga Germans. By the 1930's more than one-half of the sugar beet farms in Colorado, Nebraska, Montana, and Wyoming were owned by Volga German farmers.
The migration of the Volga Germans to Colorado is connected to the development of the sugar beet industry who sent their agents to Nebraska and Kansas to recruit cheap labor (families with many children were preferred). The Volga Germans had already established themselves as successful farmers and were prime targets for the sugar beet industry recruiters. Sugar refineries were built in 1900 in Sugar City and Rocky Ford. In 1902 and 1903, sugar companies in Loveland and Ft. Collins brought in Volga German laborers.
Colonists from Norka were the first to settle in Windsor arriving in 1902. A small dwelling owned by one of this group served as the chapel for the first pioneers. This group was joined by another group of Volga Germans from Dönhoff in 1904 and by 1930 about 900 Volga German families lived in Windsor and the surrounding area. Most were working as beet farmers and field workers.
From the beginning, the goal of those who responded to the recruiters was to obtain their own land and become self-sufficient farmers. They rapidly went from workers living in tents, to building their own houses, and purchasing their own farms.
By 1910, about 75 percent of all the sugar beet farms between Sterling and Denver were operated by Volga Germans. By the 1930's more than one-half of the sugar beet farms in Colorado, Nebraska, Montana, and Wyoming were owned by Volga German farmers.
Sources
Sallet, Richard. Russian-German Settlements in the United States. Fargo: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 1974. 49-51. Print.
Thomas, Adam. Work Renders Life Sweet: Germans from Russian in Fort Collins, 1900-2000. August 2003.
Thomas, Adam. Work Renders Life Sweet: Germans from Russian in Fort Collins, 1900-2000. August 2003.
Last updated January 7, 2017.