Founding of the town of Munjor, Kansas

The town of Munjor, Kansas looking towards the west.
After landing in New York, the immigrants immediately headed westward.
Arriving in Kansas, some stayed a few days in Herzog (Victoria) with the earlier
immigrants; others arrived in Hays on July and spent a short time there.
In a matter of a few days, both of these groups moved to a tract of land along
Big Creek, north of the present town of Munjor, This site proved
unsatisfactory and after two months, they moved to Section 25, Range 18 in
Wheatland Township to establish their permanent home, which is to this day the
location of the town of Munjor. Other immigrant groups arrived in Munjor
in November 1876, September 1877, and July 1878. After this, until 1900,
individuals and small groups continued to join the Munjor community.
The people lived very closely together in houses built after the style of their
forefathers in Russia - the lower half of the building dug into the ground, the
upper part built of sod cut from the prairie. These dwellings called
"Semlinkas". The interior usually contained only two rooms: a small room
with a fireplace and cooking materials, and a larger room which served as
living, dining , and a bed room. Straw, sunflowers, and wood were used for
fuel when available, in their absence, decomposed cattle manure know as
"Mistholz". Large sheepskins coats, woven with fur on the inside, were brought
from Russia and proved to be very practical during the first winters. In
general the women dressed much as they did in Russia, wearing neither hats nor
bonnets, but rather small, black shawls embroidered with designs in colored
silk. At first, the older men wore their hair long onto the neck, but this
custom soon disappeared.
The first years and well into the 1890's were years of drought. During
this period, a number of early pioneers left Munjor and returned to Russia.
The hardships of the early life of the settlers would not be easily described
nor appreciated. Perhaps this comment in the parish chronicle, dated
October 15th, 1892, is indicative: "The people were so poor it was unbelievable.
How they survived is beyond me. I just cannot understand it. They
got so far behind in payments. They had to pay the interest before they
could buy the seed wheat. They hardly were able to make the interest
payment. It seemed as if the rod of the Lord had struck these poor people,
His judgment is worse for the sinner."