Giant Steppes Toward Freedom
“Freedom Isn’t Free”
How lucky we are that our ancestors took the “steppes” that led
them to America. The first “steppes” they took led them from the
safety of Germany, to the unknown of Russia. Imagine the cost of
leaving your family, friends and country to find a new life in
Russia! In the years 1765-76, Catherine the Great offered our
ancestors
some freedoms and land in Russia if they would settle the Volga
River area in Russia. Although the land was free, our ancestors
paid the price of lost family and friends. Just moving across town
was hard for me, losing friends who I went to school with and played
with was hard. Not to mention the work of packing, loading,
unloading and cleaning. Our ancestors were brave people!
The
next “steppe” came when our ancestors started to have the freedoms
promised by Catherine the Great taken away from them. Around 1874
the Russians started to tell our people how to teach their children,
how to govern their towns and started to force them into military
service for the Czar. When this started to happen many of our
ancestors knew it was time to move again. The lucky ones, who left
early, only paid by losing family and friends again. Those who
stayed too long paid with the complete loss of home, land and
freedom. Many of them were sent to prison or labor camps. Many
others lost their lives. Our ancestors were brave strong people!
We
are still working on our final “steppes”. My ancestors settled in
South Dakota in 1884, they found a country that loved freedom and
was willing to share that freedom with them. They still had to
struggle with droughts, snow storms, depressions and bad crops. But
they survived and passed the freedom they found here on to their
children, grandchildren and great grandchildren who now have passed
it on to us. Our ancestors were brave, strong, proud people!
It’s up to each of us to make sure the freedoms and heritage our
ancestors gave us is preserved and remembered. It’s time for all of
us to “Steppe Up”!
