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Why had the Mennonite been willing to cross continents to retain their freedom? The Mennonites were looking for freedom from state power. They wanted the right to educate their children in their church-run schools and to practise their own faith. Many Mennonites settled in Manitoba which had agressively sought settlers. By the late 1800s, there was the concern that if the Canadian west was not quickly populated, that it would be swallowed up by Americans. To preclude United States annexation of the new province of Manitoba, the Canadian government initiated a program of attracting new immigrants to settle the west. Like Catherine the Great had needed a century earlier, Canada and the unsettled west now needed settlers -- people who could endure the hardships of homesteading the Canadian West, especially people with strong backs. William Hespeller, a German-speaking agent of Canada, visited numerous Russian communities in the early 1870s and offered land-hungry workers the opportunity to farm in western Canada. In addition to land, the Mennonites were offered full privileges to practise their religion, to establish their own schools, and to be exempt from military service. Hespeller was impressed by the Mennonites he met in Russia and reported: "They are a hard working, sober, moral and intelligent people. I found prosperous merchants, manufacturers, and mechanics." Twelve Mennonite delegates arrived to inspect Manitoba in 1873. Assembling in Fargo, North Dakota, they traveled for four days to Fort Garry (now the City of Winnipeg) but were discouraged at what they found. The land was very wet, and the characteristic mosquitoes were out in full force. Seven of the twelve delegates gave up on Manitoba, and decided to explore other possibilities-- eventually settling their colonies in Nebraska and Kansas. On July 23, 1873, the Canadian Department of Agriculture formally invited the Mennonites to settle in in southern Manitoba. The government offered the Mennonites an "entire exemption from any military service" and set aside special land reserves for their settlements. The East Reserve comprising 8 townships east of the Red River. In the years following, the West Reserve across the Red River was also set aside for Mennonite immigrants. In June 1874, a landing site was chosen at the "Forks", the junction of the Rat and Red Rivers in Manitoba. Jacob Shantz and a crew of Metis built four immigration shacks in anticipation of the immigrants. On July 31st, 65 families including 385 Mennonites landed at the Forks. It had been a long journey. In this group of families, two babies had been born on the ship, another two at the immigration sheds. Upon arrival, the newcomers needed to buy everything for a new life in Manitoba. Between 1874 and 1879, almost 18,000 Mennonites left Russia for Canada and the United States. Entire villages were transplanted from the Russian steppes to the virgin soils of southern Manitoba. The 550 families which comprised the entire villages of the Bergthal and Kleine Gemeinde colonies eventually moved to Manitoba.
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