I am writing this story in Burlington in April 1980, for the benefit of our children and relatives that are interested in the history of our relatives from Russia.

     Ninety-five years ago this spring, my father, Jacob; his older brother, Christian; and a younger brother, John; left Russia for the United States of America.  They came with their Uncle Phillip Breitling, uncle by marriage, and his family.  Having lived near the Black Sea area, they left Russia and settled in Scotland, South Dakota.  Because of financial problems, my grandfather, Jacob Sr.; a son, Gottlob; and a daughter, Carolina; stayed behind in Russia with three married daughters, Christina Gramm, Gottlebina Lucas, and Kathrine Haas.  After arriving at Scotland, Dad and his brother hired out to farmers.  Chris, being the oldest, received $100.00 per year; Dad, being 17 years old, received $90.00 and John, the youngest, received $80.00. After one and one half years, the brothers saved enough money to help their father financially, so that in the fall of 1887, my grandfather and the two unmarried children left Russia and came to America, also settling in Scotland, South Dakota.

    The next three years the Strobels worked on farms and in other businesses.  Chris operated a creamery that used a steam engine to furnish power to run its machinery.  My father collected the cream from farmers in the vicinity of Scotland three times a week and delivered it to his brother's creamery.

    In the spring of 1890, a number of families decided to come to Colorado to file on homesteads.  These families came as far as St. Francis, Kansas, because this was as far as the railroad had been built. 

This taken from the Weekly Review, March 6, 1890, St. Francis, Ks.:

A special train came in Sunday and one coach was loaded with Russians and Monday's freight brought in several carloads of stock and goods.  They numbered about 75 persons in all, and we learn that their destination is near Landsman, Colorado.  They, at present are located at Dr. Waterman's old drug store building and are preparing to move.

We are sorry they are going so far from our city, for that class of citizens always makes successful farmers.  They are from Scotland, South Dakota and state that the reason for leaving that area was on account of the cold
weather.

One of them says they have to feed their cattle and livestock from Oct. 1, to May 20.  They will find quite a change in that respect, for in this country stock hardly require shelter at all.

     When this part of Kit Carson County was settled, most of the people were of German descent.  They settled in an area approximately 1 mile square.  This community became known as the Settlement.  These people had a deep reverence for God and had a desire to worship God.  They held Sunday

1892 when they organized and built a church out of native sandstone. The church known as Rock Church, which was the beginning of the Emmanuel Lutheran Church.  My parents were members of this church.  However, in 1911 a new church organization came into being, The German Congregational Church.  A building was erected and called the Hope Congregational Church.

    My parents then became members of this church.  Dad attended the Congregational Church while in Scotland, S.D., and this was one of the reasons for joining the new church.  These two churches contributed much to the spiritual aspect of life in this community.  Both churches are still active at this time.

   Here grandfather, Chris and my father, each filed homesteads, which consisted of one-fourth section of land or 160 acres.  They tried to make a living on these homesteads, but because of drought and sometimes hail, they were unable to make ends meet.  Therefore my father went to Denver in the fall of 1890, and worked in a smelter until spring and then tried farming during the summer.  One winter he worked on a dairy called London Dairy which was located a mile north of the present Stapleton International Airport.  My father's job was to take care of the horses that were used to pull the milk wagons that delivered the milk to the residents of Denver.  Because my father was a lover of horses, he would get up at 2 o'clock in the morning, feed, curry comb, harness and hitch up the horses to the milk wagons so that they were ready to go at 4 o'clock.  Then the drivers of the milk wagons would take off for Denver and return at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, when again my father would take care of the horses.  Dad received $25.00 plus room and board per month on this job.  One fall, dad hauled silver ore from a mine near Montezuma, Colo. to the railroad station.  From there it was transported to the smelter in Denver.

On Jan. 6, 1893, my father was married to Katerina Dobler. (The Doblers came to Colorado the same time the Strobels did.) In 1894, after Theodore, my oldest brother, was a few months old, Dad and mother went to Denver one more time.  Dad worked in the smelter again along with his brother, John.Mother and uncle John's wife kept house in an apartment they rented and picked strawberries in their spare time.  In the spring of 1895, when they were ready to return to the arm north of Bethune, uncle Andrew Baltzer, who had also gone to Denver to work, offered my folks his team and wagon for their transportation home, because he could stay and work a month or two more.  It took the folks three days to get home.

    After that farming got to be better and dad nd mother had accumulated a small herd of cattle, also raising some corn and wheat.  In 1913, the folks raised their first good winter heat crop and thereafter wheat crops were until about 1931-1932 unless it was attacked by smut.  Wheat for seed had to be treated for smut, a fungus which made the kernels turn black and useless.  I knew of two treatments for smut: one was a formaldehyde and water solution and the other a copper sulphate and water solution.  We used the formaldehyde solution with very good results.  Early seeding also helped the problem.  After we started to summer fallow, we seeded earlier and the smut treatments could be discontinued.