Permanent settlers arrived in Laurel, then called Carlton, around 1879. The railroad arrived in the community in the summer of 1882 and since that time, the town has served as a major railroad hub for the Northern Pacific.
The first Volga German families to settle in Laurel came from Beideck, Hussenbach, and Kautz. They were joined by families from many other colonies as the sugar beet industry developed in the Yellowstone Valley.
The following Volga German families settled in and around Laurel, Montana:
Balzer from Wiesenmüller
Bangert from Dietel
Barthuly from Neu-Balzer
Batt from Dietel
Baus from Neu-Dönhof
Behm from Dönhof
Bender from Kratzke
Bernhardt from Frank
Besel from Hussenbach
Brese from Konstantinovka
Brester from Norka
Deines from Kratzke
Deines from Norka
DeWald from Hussenbach
Eckhardt from Frank
Ehrlich / Ehrlick from Shcherbakovka
Flohr from Merkel
Foos from Dietel
Frank from Kautz
Frickel from Kautz
Fox from Hussenbach
Fox / Fuchs from Kautz
Getz from Hussenbach
Gomer from Neu-Dönhof
Hankel from Dönhof
Hartung from Kolb
Hergett from Susannental
Hofferber from Frank
Jarger from Dietel
Kaiser from Neu-Messer
Kaufman from Frank
Kautz from Dietel & Merkel
Klein from Kautz
Klockhammer form Kautz
Koch from Kolb
Lais from Hussenbach
Leikam from Laub
Lofing from Norka
Marker from Hussenbach
Neibauer from Kautz
Ostermiller from Beideck
Ostwald from Kautz
Reichert from Dietel
Reiter from Kautz
Robertus from Neu-Balzer
Ruff from Dietel
Rupp from Strassendorf
Schoessler from Walter
Schreiner from Kautz
Siegfried from Dobrinka
Steinmetz from Dietel
Steinmiller from Frank
Stroh from Frank
Weis from Morgentau
- Sallet, Richard. Russian-German Settlement in the United States (Fargo, ND: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 1974): 51.
- Laurel Cemetery (FindAGrave.com)
Laurel, Montana (Wikipedia)