The Early Years - 1767 to 1775
In many cases it took years after the initial settlement before the town sites could be platted and the blocks sectioned off into home sites. Some early settlers learned from the Russians how to construct dugouts or zemlyanki. These were earth houses which consisted of excavated pits covered with a roof made of wagon planks, limbs, and twigs covered with a mixture of dry grass and mud.
One of the original Volga colonists, Anton Schneider, described the conditions. He stated that "throughout the winter we lived miserably and in the greatest need. The dark winter days and the eternally long nights seemed to last forever. We were separate from all other human beings, and in many cases did not even have enough to eat."
The difficult living conditions of the German settlers, suffering from constant dampness in their earthen homes, led to an alarming mortality rate, which was particularly high among infants.
Marauding packs of wolves were to be a constant threat to livestock and winter trips across the icy steppes in troikas were sometimes interrupted by the predators. For this reasons, an extra horse or colt was often tied to the sleigh and released if necessary to deter their attacks.
In addition to the natural calamities associated with their early settlement, conflicts with indigenous peoples of the Volga also stalled colonial development. Bands of escaped Russian serfs and fugitives led by Emelian Pugachev stalked the region, attacking and robbing the German colonists. The nomadic Mongol tribes of Kirghiz and Buddhist Kalmyks looked with suspicion upon the encroaching settlers. As early as 1764, the colonists were attacked by marauders who sought money, provisions, livestock, and in some cases enslaved their captives.
The number of German colonist families on the Volga decreased from 6,433 in 1769 to 4,858 in 1775 and stability was not established until 1785. Volga German historians have termed the period between 1765 and 1775 "Die Jahre der Not" or "The Years of Misery".
Based on notes in the 1775 census, lightning struck and burned the homes of Johannes Kloberdanz and Jakob Bauer in 1770 and a fire in 1771 destroyed the homes and associated outbuildings of 21 families living in the colony.
Despite the very difficult situation for many of the Volga German settlers, Norka seems to have been an exceptional success story in the early years. According to Jacob Dietz, Professor Simon Pallas (see right column), who visited the Volga colonies in 1773, and found so much grief and poverty as described above, points out the exceptional situation in the colonies of Norka and Huck. Pallas wrote: "These colonies have since their founding produced their own grain not only for food, but for sale. They have procured for themselves all sorts of convenience and have even built their own granaries."
In 1774, a year following the visit by Simon Pallas, terror struck the colony when it was attacked by Emelian Pugachev and his band of marauders.
According to the 1775 census for Norka, a plague infected the colonist's cattle stock beginning in December 1774 and lasting until April 1775. The losses impacted all of the colonists and they estimated that more than 300 cows and 200 bulls were lost.
The Russian government's Office of Immigrant Oversight noted in the 1775 census that there was sufficient farmland for 264 families (219 are listed in the census), although the hay harvests had been inadequate to support the necessary amount of livestock. They further note that the allocation of forest land (698 desyatina) was insufficient and recommended adding additional farmland along the Karamysh River. Due to the inadequacies of forest land, some colonists requested that they be transferred to another colony and be paid for their homes and personal property. The Office of Immigrant Oversight notes that these people can be resettled in nearby Pobochnaya colony where there is sufficient forest land.
The 1775 census included a supplemental register of 11 families that were unable to farm. Some of these families were headed by widowed women and some by craftsmen (silk and camlet weavers) who did not have farming experience. Others were unable to farm due to old age.
The census taker writes that the majority of the 957 colonists are diligent workers, however, he notes that there are more than 50 who are not particularly zealous, especially in the maintenance of their homes and outbuildings.
A 1798 description of Norka Colony continues the story of its development.
Report of Peter Simon Pallas in 1773
Peter Simon Pallas
The explorer Peter Simon Pallas (1748-1811) counted a total of 6,194 German colonist families with 25,781 people (13,441 male and 12,340 female) on his journey through the Volga colonies in 1773. The number of families was less than in 1769, but the population as a whole had grown considerably despite low life expectancy.
The drop in the number of families was probably due to migration of those families who’d proven to be unsuited to life on the land. The inspection of 1769 established that 579 families could be considered to belong to this category. Most of them remained in the villages and worked as tradesmen or day laborers. Some migrated to the cities to practice a trade there or become factory workers.
Since it wasn’t only those settlers who had proven unsuited to the agriculture life who had problems, the Russian government was forced to act. They granted the colonists further loans in 1775 to compensate for their losses of animals, implements and seed. The government also extended the term of their old loans for an additional five years.
The high reproductive rate resulted in population growth despite low life expectancy. Families with 10 or more children were not a rarity. Peter Simon Pallas wrote that there were lots of young folk to be seen in the colonies.
The author of Journey through the Various Provinces of Russia in the Years 1768-1773 also mentioned the various trades represented among the settlers coming to Russia to settle and find their fortunes. For many, the dream was not fulfilled and they had to content themselves with agriculture. Pallas commented on the artisans living in Katherinenstadt that:
"One could not find more or better artisans in any colony than here and some can survive on their earnings from their trade, not least because of the proximity of Saratov. A good carpenter, turner, hat makers, dyer, cloth maker, textiles weaver, knife smith, mechanic or maker of large clocks – all were to be found here and are worthy of mention. Simpler trades were also plentifully represented. A couple of miners have also lost their way in the big city and now have to use their pickaxes for plows, in order to support themselves. If more artisans could be supported in the vicinity then this town would really be a worthwhile one. Agriculture is not especially remunerative due to the frequent droughts and resultant bad harvests."
Pallas, a doctor and explorer was born in Berlin on 22 September 1741, and died there on 8 September 1811. He was one of the universally distinguished naturalists of his time.
While employed as a professor for natural history in Berlin, he went to St. Petersburg at the personal request of Empress Catherine II. Here he was appointed Assistant of the Russian Academy of Sciences and was commissioned with a five-year exploration through South Russia. He published a book on this journey, "Journey Through Various Provinces of the Russian Empire (1771-6)".
In 1777 Pallas was appointed member of the topographic department of the Academy and in 1787 he was nominated historiographer of the staff of the Academy.
In 1793-94, Pallas undertook a second trip through southern Russia during which he concerned himself primarily with the climate in the Black Sea area and the Crimea. The scientific product was a book called Remarks on a Journey through the Southern Parts of the Russian Empire in the Years 1793 and 1794, which appeared in Leipzig in 1800-1801.
Catherine II rewarded him for his services with a property in the Crimea, to which Pallas retired in 1796.
Shortly before his death, he returned to Berlin.