A couple of the early Volga German groups to arrive in the Pacific Northwest traveled through Walla Walla in 1882 enroute to their settlement areas in Adams and Whitman Counties in the Palouse Country of Eastern Washington.
Those who stayed in Walla Walla came primarily from Walter, Walter Khutor, and Hussenbach. Around the turn of the century, settlers from Kautz began arriving in large numbers.
Today, the descendants of many Volga German families live in and around Walla Walla.
Christ Lutheran Church
Emmanuel Lutheran Church
German Congregational Church
Peace Evangelical & Congregational Church
- Scheuerman, Richard D. & Clifford E. Trafzer. The Volga Germans: Pioneers of the Northwest (Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Press, 1985): 175.
- 1920 Federal Census of Walla Walla County (Eugene Jenkins)
- City of Walla Walla - Internment Search
- Mountain View Cemetery (findagrave.com)
Walla Walla, Washington (wikipedia)
Volga German Band in Walla Walla, about 1915.
L-R: George "Shorty" Harding, John Roth, Henry Harding, Godfrey Harding, John Harding,
Conductor Santos, Jack Gottwig, (unknown) Butherus, John Erdman, Henry Fox, George "Hillia" Hill.
Source: Michael Frank & Jean Roth.