Volga German Institute

Endicott, Whitman Co., Washington

In 1881, a group of Volga German families from Rush and Barton Counties in Kansas decided to move to the Pacific Northwest. They took advantage of reduced fares on the Union Pacific and took a train to San Francisco where steamers of the Oregon Steamship Company transported them to Portland. After spending a year working in the Portland area, most of these families decided to move to Eastern Washington, and in September 1882 left Portland by covered wagon for Walla Walla.

Dusty, Whitman Co., Washington

Dusty is a small unincorporated agricultural community in Whitman County.

Colfax, Whitman Co., Washington

It is located at the confluence of the north and south forks of the Palouse River. At once time, Colfax also lay at the junction of three railway lines. It was named after Schuyler Colfax, the 17th Vice President of the United States (1869-1873).

Bickleton, Klickitat Co., Washington

Following the arrival of the group that came to Walla Walla by wagon train in 1882, John C. Oestrich led a small group to Bickleton in the Horse Heaven Hills in Klickitat County. This group included Bastrom, Dewald, Kembel, Michel, and Schäfer families. Most filed homestead claims and raised livestock. They were joined later by the Schössler, Heimbigner, and Eckhardt families. Some relocated to Ritzville about 1890, and following the epidemics between 1898 and 1901, most of the remaining families also moved to Adams County.

Bellingham, Whatcom Co., Washington

In 1885, Georg Schmidt from Frank was the first Volga German to settle in Bellingham. He later relocated to Walla Walla, but by the turn of the century a considerable Volga German settlement had formed in Bellingham.