Russian Settlement, Utah
Encyclopedia
Russian Settlement is a ghost town
in the Park Valley
area of Box Elder County
, Utah
, United States
. It is not known what name, if any, the settlers gave to their community; it has been called "Box Elder County's ghost town with
no name." The settlement, which lasted about 1914–1917, was formed by a group of Russians
of the religious sect known as the Molokan
s. The land company never provided promised facilities to make the land liveable, and the colony failed quickly. The most noticeable remnant of Russian Settlement is a cemetery with two graves.
ers. Pacific Land and Water misrepresented this arid land in advertising, describing it as "amongst the richest in the state of Utah" that "only awaits the plow to yield up its vast treasures." Advertising described the local climate as "energizing," and it was claimed that the heavy growth of sagebrush
indicated that the land was fertile for farming. Land was sold for US$17.50 per acre, financed at 7 percent interest
, with 20 percent down
and the remainder paid annually over five years.
In March 1914, a group of 20 Molokan
men purchased 4 mi2 of land. The Molokans are a Russian Protestant
-like Christian sect, and this particular group belonged to a sub-sect called the Jumpers and Leapers. They had been living in California
for about a decade, and the older members of the group were becoming concerned about the effects of American culture on the Russian youth. They also thought that the religious persecution
they had experienced in their homeland was continuing in California. After a Los Angeles
judge annulled
a traditional marriage between two teenagers, the Molokans decided to leave. The immigrants wanted to raise their children in a rural area immersed in their own language
, culture
, and traditions. The families, totaling approximately 100 to 125 people, traveled by train from Los Angeles to Kelton, Utah
. A Pacific Land and Water employee brought them by wagon from Kelton to their new town site in April 1914.
. A main street
running east to west centered the town. Each lot
consisted of a 3 acres (1.2 ha) strip of land, with 200 feet (61 m) of frontage on the main road. Houses, barns, outbuildings, wells, and root cellar
s were constructed. The lumber used came from a Pacific Land and Water sawmill
located in the nearby Raft River Mountains
. Livestock was purchased from local ranchers, and crops were planted. Other small villages were founded by Molokans near Rosette
and Dove Creek.
By August 1914, the number of school-age children had reached 40, prompting Box Elder County to establish a one-room school
and provide a teacher. A portable school house was built on the west end of the main street, and the teacher, one of the settlers, was paid by Pacific Land and Water. The establishment of the school was perhaps premature; by November 1915, the school superintendent announced that the student population did not justify a school, and that the children would be sent by bus to Rosette for school.
and grain. Irrigation
wells and pumps promised by Pacific Land and Water were never delivered, so most families irrigated with their domestic wells.
school, and in September the entire school was disassembled and shipped to Promontory
. By the end of 1917, Russian Settlement was a ghost town. Most of the settlers returned to the Los Angeles area. Box Elder County residents removed the buildings, moving some to new locations and salvaging the rest for materials.
. One grave is of Anna Kalpakoff, who was accidentally shot by her husband. The other is of her sister-in-law, Mary Kalpakoff, who died during childbirth. The current headstones were placed by Mary’s son and grandson in 1966. There are also clearly defined foundations, caved-in wells, and various artifacts
. A cowboy
on horseback fell into an old well here in 1937, barely escaping with his life. A hill just to the northwest is known as Russian Knoll, in honor of the immigrants who once lived in the area.
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
in the Park Valley
Park Valley, Utah
Park Valley is an unincorporated community in Box Elder County, Utah, United States.Park Valley lies in the northwestern part of the state, northwest of the state capital at Salt Lake City, and west of the county seat at Brigham City. Utah State Route 30 runs through the center of the valley,...
area of Box Elder County
Box Elder County, Utah
Box Elder County is a county located in the U.S. state of Utah. It lies on the north end of the Great Salt Lake, covering a large area north to the Idaho border and west to the Nevada border. Included in this area are large tracts of barren desert, contrasted by high, forested mountains. The...
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is not known what name, if any, the settlers gave to their community; it has been called "Box Elder County's ghost town with
no name." The settlement, which lasted about 1914–1917, was formed by a group of Russians
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
of the religious sect known as the Molokan
Molokan
Molokans are sectarian Christians who evolved from "Spiritual Christian" Russian peasants that refused to obey the Russian Orthodox Church, beginning in the 17th century...
s. The land company never provided promised facilities to make the land liveable, and the colony failed quickly. The most noticeable remnant of Russian Settlement is a cemetery with two graves.
History
Between 1910 and 1914, the Salt Lake City-based Pacific Land and Water Company acquired about 180000 acres (72,843.5 ha) of property in Box Elder County to resell. This land consisted of former railroad land, the property of another company absorbed by Pacific Land and Water, and tracts purchased from ranchRanch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
ers. Pacific Land and Water misrepresented this arid land in advertising, describing it as "amongst the richest in the state of Utah" that "only awaits the plow to yield up its vast treasures." Advertising described the local climate as "energizing," and it was claimed that the heavy growth of sagebrush
Artemisia tridentata
Artemisia tridentata is a shrub or small tree from the family Asteraceae. Some botanists treat it in the segregate genus Seriphidium, as S. tridentatum W. A. Weber, but this is not widely followed...
indicated that the land was fertile for farming. Land was sold for US$17.50 per acre, financed at 7 percent interest
Interest rate
An interest rate is the rate at which interest is paid by a borrower for the use of money that they borrow from a lender. For example, a small company borrows capital from a bank to buy new assets for their business, and in return the lender receives interest at a predetermined interest rate for...
, with 20 percent down
Down payment
Down payment is a payment used in the context of the purchase of expensive items such as a car and a house, whereby the payment is the initial upfront portion of the total amount due and it is usually given in cash at the time of finalizing the transaction.A loan is then required to make the full...
and the remainder paid annually over five years.
In March 1914, a group of 20 Molokan
Molokan
Molokans are sectarian Christians who evolved from "Spiritual Christian" Russian peasants that refused to obey the Russian Orthodox Church, beginning in the 17th century...
men purchased 4 mi2 of land. The Molokans are a Russian Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
-like Christian sect, and this particular group belonged to a sub-sect called the Jumpers and Leapers. They had been living in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
for about a decade, and the older members of the group were becoming concerned about the effects of American culture on the Russian youth. They also thought that the religious persecution
Religious persecution
Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group of individuals as a response to their religious beliefs or affiliations or lack thereof....
they had experienced in their homeland was continuing in California. After a Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
judge annulled
Annulment
Annulment is a legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost as if it had never taken place...
a traditional marriage between two teenagers, the Molokans decided to leave. The immigrants wanted to raise their children in a rural area immersed in their own language
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
, culture
Russian culture
Russian culture is associated with the country of Russia and, sometimes, specifically with ethnic Russians. It has a rich history and can boast a long tradition of excellence in every aspect of the arts, especially when it comes to literature and philosophy, classical music and ballet, architecture...
, and traditions. The families, totaling approximately 100 to 125 people, traveled by train from Los Angeles to Kelton, Utah
Kelton, Utah
-External links:* by Randy W. Lewis* at Utah State History...
. A Pacific Land and Water employee brought them by wagon from Kelton to their new town site in April 1914.
Village
The Russian settlement was laid out in a similar fashion to villages in the Russian EmpireRussian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. A main street
Main Street
Main Street is the metonym for a generic street name of the primary retail street of a village, town, or small city in many parts of the world...
running east to west centered the town. Each lot
Lot (real estate)
In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner. A lot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property in other countries...
consisted of a 3 acres (1.2 ha) strip of land, with 200 feet (61 m) of frontage on the main road. Houses, barns, outbuildings, wells, and root cellar
Root cellar
A root cellar is a structure built underground or partially underground and used to store vegetables, fruits, and nuts or other foods.-Construction:Common construction methods are:...
s were constructed. The lumber used came from a Pacific Land and Water sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
located in the nearby Raft River Mountains
Raft River Mountains
The Raft River Mountains are a mountain range in northern Box Elder County, Utah, United States. The ghost town of Yost is on the north central slopes. Tributaries of the Raft River drain the northern slopes of the range.-Geography:...
. Livestock was purchased from local ranchers, and crops were planted. Other small villages were founded by Molokans near Rosette
Rosette, Utah
Rosette is an unincorporated ranching community in Box Elder County, Utah, United States.Rosette is located about west of Park Valley.The community was named by the town's first postmaster, Jonathan Campbell, in 1871. The name refers to the wild roses in the area....
and Dove Creek.
By August 1914, the number of school-age children had reached 40, prompting Box Elder County to establish a one-room school
One-room school
One-room schools were commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In most rural and small town schools, all of the students met in a single room...
and provide a teacher. A portable school house was built on the west end of the main street, and the teacher, one of the settlers, was paid by Pacific Land and Water. The establishment of the school was perhaps premature; by November 1915, the school superintendent announced that the student population did not justify a school, and that the children would be sent by bus to Rosette for school.
Farming
The original land purchase by the Molokans consisted of 2600 acres (1,052.2 ha), with each family receiving 80 acres (32.4 ha) outside of town for farming. This land, however, was used by only one settler. Most families farmed on their house lot, and grew only gardens and small plots of hayHay
Hay is grass, legumes or other herbaceous plants that have been cut, dried, and stored for use as animal fodder, particularly for grazing livestock such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep. Hay is also fed to pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs...
and grain. Irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
wells and pumps promised by Pacific Land and Water were never delivered, so most families irrigated with their domestic wells.
Decline
Repeated crop failures led to the abandonment of the town, beginning in 1915. In August 1916, the stove from the school house was sent to the LucinLucin, Utah
Lucin is an abandoned railroad community in Box Elder County, Utah, United States, along the western side of the Great Salt Lake, northwest of Salt Lake City.- History :...
school, and in September the entire school was disassembled and shipped to Promontory
Promontory, Utah
Promontory in Box Elder County, Utah, United States, is notable as the location of Promontory Summit where the United States' Transcontinental Railroad was officially completed on May 10, 1869....
. By the end of 1917, Russian Settlement was a ghost town. Most of the settlers returned to the Los Angeles area. Box Elder County residents removed the buildings, moving some to new locations and salvaging the rest for materials.
Remnants
No one has lived in the area since the Russians left. Some buildings stayed standing for many years, and the pattern of town lots was visible into the 1960s. Today, the main feature that remains is a weathered white picket fence surrounding two graves. Both headstones are in RussianRussian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
. One grave is of Anna Kalpakoff, who was accidentally shot by her husband. The other is of her sister-in-law, Mary Kalpakoff, who died during childbirth. The current headstones were placed by Mary’s son and grandson in 1966. There are also clearly defined foundations, caved-in wells, and various artifacts
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
. A cowboy
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
on horseback fell into an old well here in 1937, barely escaping with his life. A hill just to the northwest is known as Russian Knoll, in honor of the immigrants who once lived in the area.
External links
- Chapter 3—Attempts at Farming from Molokans in America by John K. Berokoff
- Russian Settlement Cemetery at Utah State Division of History