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
The following Volga German families settled in and around Walla Walla, Washington:
Adler from Kolb
Alles from Walter
Amen from Frank
Aschenbrenner from Hussenbach
Bangart / Bangert from Dietel
Bastron from Frank
Beltz from Kutter
Benzel from Kautz
Benzel from Konstantinovka
Blehm from Kratzke & Straßburg
Borgens from Frank
Breitigam from Kolb
Brehm
Brungardt from Frank
Butherus from Kutter
Dewald from Hussenbach
Dietz
Ells
Engelmann
Erdmann
Frank from Kautz
Frickel from Kautz
Fritz from Friedenfeld
Fox / Fuchs from Kautz
Fritzler
Funk
Gates from Yagodnaya Polyana
Geist
Gettmann
Gottwig from Walter
Gradwohl from Kautz
Grenz from Franzosen
Hamburg
Hanhardt from Kutter
Harding from Frank
Hardt from Kautz
Hartung
Heberlein from Walter
Heidenreich / Heidenrich from Huck
Heilbrun from Dietel
Hein from Frank
Heinbigner from Frank
Heiser from Norka
Hergert
Herrman from Liebental
Hill from Walter
Hoff from Frank
Hoffman from Balzer
Hoffner
Hopp from Frank
Horst
Kimbel
Kindsvater from Dietel
Kissler
Kleweno from Yagodnaya Polyana
Knaub from Kautz
Kohler
Lais from Hussenbach
Leichner
Liebsak from Frank
Leinweber from Yagodnaya Polyana
Litzenberger
Lutz from Frank
Maurer from Hussenbach
Meininger
Michaelis from Kratzke
Michel
Mill from Dietel
Miller from Dietel
Mohr from Beideck
Morasch from Yagodnaya Polyana
Neubauer from Kautz
Ochs
Oswald from Hussenbach
Ostwald from Hussenbach
Ostwald from Kautz
Pister from Merkel
Reiswig from Walter-Khutor
Reiter from Kautz
Repp
Riehl from Hussenbach & Kautz
Rohn from Walter
Rosenoff from Kolb
Roth
Rothenberger from Hussenbach
Rutz
Schäfer from Frank
Sauer
Schierman from Yagodnaya Polyana
Schlotthauer from Dobrinka
Schmidt from Grimm
Schneidmiller from Kautz & Hussenbach
Schoessler from Walter
Schreiner from Kautz
Schibel from Messer
Schiffner from Neu-Hussenbach
Schwartzkopf
Spomer from Beideck
Starkel from Hussenbach & Neu-Hussenbach
Steinbrecker from Dönhof
Steinmetz from Dietel
Stroemel from Kamenka
Stumpf
Wacker
Wagner
Walter
Weber from Walter
Weis from Morgentau
Wilhelm
Woitt from Walter
Wolf
Wolsborn from Frank
Wombold from Dietel
Zier from Dietel
Zitterkopf from Huck
Zitzenstock from Lauwe
- 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.