Farm Movement to the State of Washington 1912

Click to ENLARGE
1913 Group of Molokan-Jumpers Before Leaving for the State of Washington
Thirty-three families moved to Washington. They lived there for eight years, 1913-1921. They lived in the towns of Hartline, Lehie, Mansfield, Baird, and others. Picture was taken in "Karakala", Los Angeles. Click to enlarge photo.
Shown here are some of the men that bought farm land in the State of Washington, they are primarily from the villages of Voskresenovka and Nikitino in Russia. In the center is the land agent, a representative of the Big Bend Wheat Company of Washington, owned by a former Governor of the State. They lived in Washington 8 years, from 1913 to 1921.

At the height of the movement there were 33 families, and they had their own church. Land was bought for $46 an acre. Each family bought 60 acre with $600 down, which in most cases was all the money they had. At the end of the first year the company kept 60% of the income, leaving the farmer with 40%. Wheat could only be planted every other year, and so the farmers could not meet the mortgage payment and lost the land.

In order to continue farming they tried leasing land from the company, but survival became increasingly difficult and they started to leave, some went to Arizona while the rest returned to Los Angeles. In 1921 the remaining 13 families left, and thus ended the movement.

This picture was taken in Los Angeles in the area refered to by the Molokans as Karakala. It is bordered by Soto St., Whittier Blvd., Orme Ave., and Eighth St. Settlers from the Armenian Molokan village of Karakala in the Kars area of what was then a part of Russia moved to this area of Los Angeles, one of them bought a house on Mott St., and since then the area was called Karakala.         
—  Harry J. Shubin


Back to Molokans Around the World