Molokans in Mexico: Guadalupe Valley |
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In Mexico, Russian
Molokans
and Jumpers lived mainly in what is now the town of Francisco
Zarco, Guadalupe Valley, 50 miles south of San Diego, California, and
15 miles north-east of Ensenada, Baja
California. Only a few Molokan
descendants remain in
Mexico today. Three museums compete for tourism attention and guided
tours of the closed church are provided.Books, papers, articles, websites, a film and 2 PhD theses have documented the colony. The most illustrative book was written and self-published by a former resident Molokan George Mohoff: The Russian colony of Guadalupe: Molokans in Mexico. On this page is a collection of online information in English with comments and corrections in red, and in Spanish — most with machine translations — and a book list.
Links to Articles in Spanish. [Machine translated from Spanish to English online.]
Links to some of many websites that mention Molokans in Mexico
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| 1. Molokans
in America by John K. Berokoff, Los Angeles California, 1969 In chapter 2, Berokoff presents a good summary of the history of the Mexico Molokan colony: ... agents for
a large tract of land in Lower California, Mexico, learning of the
Molokan
desire to establish a farming community, contacted them early in 1906
with
a proposition to sell them the tract which was called Rancho Guadalupe
and on terms within reach of people who were still impoverished from
their
emigration from Russia. This tract of land consisting of 13,000 acres was located 60 miles south of the United States-Mexico border, in a pretty valley [Spanish: Valle de Guadalupe] through which flowed a small stream but which turned into a torrent after a rain storm. The land was capable of producing a good crop of wheat in a rainy year but was also subjected to cycles of dry years .... ... 50 families were attracted to the proposition to purchase the tract. Led by Vasili Gavrilitch Pivovaroff and Ivan G. Samarin the land was bought for the sum of $40,000 and a site was selected for a village in the style of their native Russia, except that, for lack of logs, the houses were built of adobe in the style of Mexico.
... the
whole colony of 50 families were divided into 10 family units of
five
families to a unit. The whole tract of land was then divided into
several
sections, each section suitable for a certain crop. Thus there was a
section
of river bottom land; another section at higher level and suitable for
raising grain, a hill-side section for raising hay and a section of
untillable
mountainous land which was left undivided for community use as cattle
pasture. Each section of tillable land was then subdivided
into ten parcels for which the ten family units proceeded to draw lots
for their share of each category. The family units then drew lots for
ownership
of their individual parcels according to the need of each family. .... in 1952 squatters from the city of Mexicali, discovering that no deeds were recorded to some of the colonist's land, forcibly settled upon the land and despite the intervention of Federal, troops, at times successfully claimed ownership thereto through squatters rights. ... After these raids of squatters ... all but a very few families emigrated to the United States, and the colony as such ceased to exist. [Now the town is named Fransico Zarco, and 3 museums have been created to attract tourists.] |
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2. Aerial view of the valley today from Google maps ![]() |
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3. The Baja Beat: The Russians of Guadalupe Valley, by Greg Niemann, The San Clement Journal ![]() |
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4. Ens-Guad Trip May 4, 2002 — Lynn & Bev's Tour in Baja Photos 9 thru 51 were taken in Guadalupe showing the town, museums, church and cemetery. Posted by George "Ghrishka" Bolderoff
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5. State Museum: Russian Community Museum of Guadalupe Valley
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6. Rancho Guadalupe Molokan Cemetery, Baja, Lower Calif., Mexico 21 photos posted by George "Ghrishka" Bolderoff. Find more info on the Comments page.
Also, see
cemetery from satellite: ![]() |
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7. Mexico's Russian Colony / In Spanish: La Comunidad Rusa en Mexico Posted in 1996 on "History of Mexican Peoples" by Dr. David Rojas, Instituto Cultural "Raices Mexicanas" and Assoc. Professor Ethnomusicology, University of California, Santa Barbara. Translated from Mexican Vistas, by James Clifford Safley. 1952. — In 1996 Dr. Rojas created a website — Folklorico.com — mainly about Mexican dance. He is also interested in culture and included this article. This excerpt was the first significant information about Molokans on the Internet, appearing nearly a year before the Molokan Home Page in 1997. Soon this article was found by a Molokan in Russia, Vitaly (Samudorov?) who e-mailed asking about relatives not contacted since 1920. Vitaly's request fascinated Dr. Rojas who took a trip to find these Russians in Mexcio and tells how he happened upon the Russian museum — Museo Comunitario de El Valle De Guadalupe — at the end of his first issue of "El Mitote", November 1996. He briefly tells about meeting Andrés and Sonya Samudoroff and giving them a letter from Russia. Later Dr Rojas tried to help the new museum by donating a computer and looking for someone to help create an inventory of artifacts in the village. See Correspondence with Dr. Rojas in 1997. |
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8. Trying to Recapture Russian Emigres'
Life
in MexicoLiving Among Ghosts Brings a Strange Peace By Jessica Garrison — Los Angeles Times — December 1, 2002 The few descendants of a religious sect that fled czar's empire 100 years ago now put faith in trading on heritage to keep their ancestry alive. 9. Contract to Maintain Mexico Church, with G. A. Kashirisky Colonia Rus de Guadalupe, Baja California, Mexico; Los Angeles, CA — June 1, 1992 |
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10. Pacifist Community Perserves By Mary Forgione, Los Angeles Daily News The Arizona Republic, March 19, 1995, Travel Section, Page T6 |
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11. Transplanted
Sakhaliner:
Cheurniy Kleb [Black Bread] in Baja, MexicoThe Sakhalin Times — Oct 9, 2004, Updated Aug 24, 2005 Good history with news that recent Russian immigrants want to live there. Excerpts: Losha was one of the first Russian students to study in Anchorage, Alaska. He left Sakhalin in the early 90s and has never come back. He prolonged his studies in Alaska and got a job in San Diego, where he lived till 2000. Like most Russians abroad, he felt homesick, but didn’t “want to go back to the hardships.” His life changed for the better when he came to know about the Molokhans .. a Russian community settled in the Guadalupe valley in Baja California, Mexico ... “They are honest, hard-working, frugal, peaceful, God-fearing people, who have been through numerous hardships and who do not expect rewards except those that come from toil. Simplicity is the keynote of their lives,” says Losha. “This place is like a Russian version of the movie ‘The Village’”. The people freely offer information on the history of the colony and the ideals for which they strive, and invited the visitors to return. ... In spite of the fact the colony was founded almost one hundred years ago, the traditions are well preserved. “I feel like I am the future of this place,” adds Losha. Losha has invited many old friends from Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to come and settle in the colony, which he feels is the only piece of the “good old Russia” on earth. |
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| The proposed monument will be in front of the church along the street fence, on a fenced courtyard slab about 8 feet on each side. There will be 2 entry ways from the street. The monument will be 5 ft. high — a 3-foot high tablet sitting on a 2-foot high base which is 30-inch square. |
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13. Russians
in MexicoWebsite of the Department of Slavic Languages and Literature and Russian Club, University of California, Los Angeles. — 9 museum photos.The sign says: "Russian Community Museum and Restaurant, Russian Kitchen / Local artwork and samples from 10 vineyards / Open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday to Sunday / Guadalupe Valley since 1991, Telephone: 016-155-2030" [click on sign photo to enlarge] |
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14. Chapter
2: The Russians of Guadalupe del NorteIn Vintage Baja: Adventures of a Gringa in Lower California, by Marion Smothers — The travels of late archaeologist and Peabody Institute Fellow Marion Smothers were published in 1993 by Bueno Books. Currently out-of-print, excerpts from this book have been made available to Ensenada Baja News-Gazette. "Editors Notes" at bottom show this photo and tells about the museum, where to : "Sample authentic Russian dishes prepared by the friendly Samarin family in the tiny restaurant". — Abbreviated text below with comments in red: The Malakans (also spelled
"Molokans"), a Russian farming religious sect, purchased the valley,
now known as Guadalupe, from the Mexican government in 1905. How they
made their way from Czarist Russia to Canada*, through the United States to
an obscure spot in the mesa land of Lower California, appears to be
lost in the mists of history. The price is said to have been more than
$50,000 [$40,000].
A village site was laid out: building lots, a wide street, the church
of their native Russia, a windmill, irrigation ditches and communal
fields. [* Only a few Molokan
scouts stopped in Canada to visit Doukhobors but were told that Los
Angeles has more jobs and better climate. Most inhabitants in Mexico
never got to the US due to visa problems. For details online, see John
K Berokoff's Molokans in America, Chapter 2 —
The First Years.]
As we explored the neat village, we marveled at being transported back into an exotic peasant community. Red-bearded men greeted us with grave courtesy; their womenfolk, starched aprons over long skirts, shyly smiled from the doorways of peak-roofed houses. Window boxes overflowed with bright flowers. A sauna-type bath house shared space with each kitchen garden. Sleek dairy herds (Malakan translated as Milk Drinker) were sheltered in sturdy barns when not browsing the lush pastures. We kept our distance from flocks of aggressive geese and colonies of bee hives. However, one encroachment of the modern world charmed us. Half-naked Indian lads were playing soccer with their Russian friends. Even more surprising, the Indians were shouting in Russian during the heat of the game. ... Indian genes have mixed with Russian and Mexican to evolve into the mestizo. ... The Malakans have left their graves among what is now an ejido [Indian] cemetery — and the legacy of a few red-headed Mexicans. [This is the first documentation taboo racial mixing of white Molokans in the New World.] |
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15. Morris Photo Art — 4 photos of Mexican-Molokan grave markers |
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16. Ivan Guryevich Samarin (1857-1948) — the "Great Molokan Communicator" Reproduced from the pages of the Molokan Review, 1949, by Jon Kalmakoff on the Doukhobor Genealogy Website. ... Samarin and Pivovaroff found
and bought for the Brotherhood a plot of land in Guadalupe, Lower
California, Mexico, where Pivovaroff made his home. ... the
entire task of helping the migrants was left in Samarin's hands. ... In
March 1906, Samarin, on behalf of his fellow Molokans, travelled to
Mexico City and personally received the guaranties of religious freedom
and suspension of customs duties for the Molokan colony at Guadalupe.
Then he carried protracted negotiations regarding land grants in Lower
California, at Rosario with Taras P. Tolmasoff and other Molokan
representatives, and at Santa Rosa with P.M. Shubin, Ivan K. Mechikoff
and many others. ...
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17. Gale Multicultural America Encyclopedia: Russian Americans Most notable is the photo published in the book in the 1990s of Molokan-Jumper girls taken in Mexico, probably at a wedding. ![]() Taken in 1947, this photograph demonstrates the influence of American fashion on traditional Russian dress. The lace shawls of these women are called kascinkas; their high-heeled shoes are American. The text includes some general statements with errors: Nearly 5,000 [2500] members of a Russian
Christian religious sect known as the Molokans settled in California
during the first decade of the twentieth century. They formed the
nucleus of what has become a 20,000-member Russian Molokan community
that is concentrated today in San Francisco and Los Angeles. ... The
Old Believers and Molokans have been most fervent in retaining a sense
of Russian identity through an active use of the Russian language in
their religious services and in their daily lives.
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| 18. Mexico:
A destination specialist course. (PDF) By The Travel Institute, 2004. Produced in partnership with the Mexico Tourism Board. Winner of the 2005 PATA Gold Award. Chapter 1: Baja California — Beyond Ensenada: Attractions, page 14 The Museo Comunitario del Valle de Guadalupe,
in a Russian-style house, tells the story of the wine-making valley and
of the Molokans, non-Orthodox Russian peasants who were granted
permission to resellte and to worship inthe Valle de Guadalupe by the
Mexican Government in 1905. The Molokans repaired wine-making
equipments left from previous ventures and prospered in the valley.
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19. Baja Legends: The Historic Characters, Events and Locations That Put Baja California on the Map by
Greg Niemann - 2002 - 260 pages. See pages 108-110."The Molokans worked hard and prayed hard. They dressed simply; ... They became splendid citizens of Mexico, and while they spoke Russian in church, they were ever loyal to their adopted country." |
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20. Bodega Bibayoff, jAzZblOg, March 27, 2006 ... one winery owned by Russian descendants, the Bodega de Bibayoff. ... This was David Bibayoff, patriarch of this family operation. [Shown in the photo above with son Abel.] He graciously welcomed me and invited me to join him back in the warehouse where a group of distant relatives were waiting for him to do a barrel tasting. ... Bibayoff is descended from a group of Russian refugees, the Molokans, who, with the intervention and assistance of Leo Tolstoy(1), gained permission from Tsar Nicholas(2) to emigrate to the new world where they hoped to practice their own brand of Christianity unmolested. After a false start(3) in LA, they group settled into the Guadalupe Valle and took to doing what they did best: farming. The Valle flourished. [3 mistakes here: (1) Tolstoy did not help Molokans emigrate, he helped the Doukhobors after they were were persecuted for burning guns. One-third of all Doukhobors moved to Canada. Molokans fled on their own, but only 1% of all Molokans and Jumpers moved. (2) The Tsar mentioned must be Nickolas II, Russia's last Tsar, who was notorious for suppression of dissent and taking Molokan kids from their parents to be placed in Orthodox seminaries. Tolstoy helped release the Molokan kids and reduce persecution for all sectarians. In 1903-04 Tsar Nicholas II proclaimed tolerance of non-Orthodox citizens, which formally freed Russia's religious minorities from state restriction and persecution, but ended in 1917 with his assassination and overthrow of the government. During this time, Molokans built 2-story centers in Astrakhanka, Ukraine; and Tbilisi, Georgia. Molokans did not get permission from the Tsar to leave Russia. Some left illegally, some to avoid military service. (3) There was no "false start in LA". Many of the residents did not have visas to enter the US. Mexico was one of many attempts to create agricultural settlements and communes in the western states. The largest was in Arizona, but Mexico lasted longer, up to the 1960s when the presbyterm Samarin died.] .... Now, there are a few families left and Bibayoff holds forth with his son, Abel, running their vinyard. What makes Bibayoff special ... selling grapes to other wineries. The wine that is produced here is strictly for family, guests, festivals and occasional restaurants.... a dozen folks from suburban LA waiting for us. ... nieces and cousins of Bibayoff who had never met him before. They'd discovered him and the vineyard through some Internet work and, after an email contact, decided to come have a look. They'd been tasting with Abel for some time when we arrived and were especially warm and friendly in their afternoon buzz. ... his daughter was pleading with him to bottle it all exclusively for her. ... 'this wine is not for sale.' ... |
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21. The
Russian Colony of Guadalupe Molokans in Mexico. A book by George W. Mohoff, 226 pages, 1995. 199 photos / illustrations, plus a cross-indexed map of each home in the colony by head of household name. Everything you should know about Molokans in Mexico is in this book — from V.G. Moloff fleeing the Tsar's army while doing guard duty in St. Petersburg, to land ownership, swimming in the river, cowboys and indians, farm animals, church services, why they left, and more. $25 from the UMCA Heritage Room, PO Box 5790, Hacienda Heights CA 91745; or from George Mohoff, 2221 Via Camille, Montebello CA 90640; phone: 323-721-8610 — Also check out this book at your local library via interlibrary loan from at least 6 libraries in Califonia. |
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22. Books about "Molokans in Mexico" at public libraries, listed at WorldCat
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