Historical Marker · No. 606
Mennonite and Hutterian Immigration Memorial
Hutchinson County · South Dakota
The bronze calls America an asylum; for the Hutterites it held about forty years. In spring 1918 four men of the Rockport Colony, the brothers Joseph, Michael and David Hofer and Jacob Wipf, refused uniforms at Camp Lewis as conscientious objectors and were sentenced to twenty years. After solitary cells at Alcatraz they reached Fort Leavenworth on November 19, eight days after the armistice. Joseph died on November 29 and Michael on December 2. That year the Schmiedeleut began six colonies in Manitoba, and the Dariusleut and Lehrerleut nine in Alberta.
What the plaque says
Mennonite and Hutterian Immigration Memorial 1874 - Centennial - 1974 This marker commemorates the immigration of the first large groups of Swiss, Low German and Hutterian Brethren from Russia to Dakota Territory. The first group of fifteen families arrived in Yankton on October 17, 1873. However a mass movement of several hundred families followed in 1874, with smaller groups arriving all through the 1870's. The Mennonites settled mainly in Hutchinson, Turner and Bon Homme counties. The Mennonites and Hutterian Brethren have their origin in the Anabaptist wing of the Reformation which started in central Europe. Their belief in separation of church and state and in nonresistance led to severe persecution for some three centuries. Hounded from country to country in Europe, God's providence finally led them to America for asylum. The first years of severe winters, grasshoppers, prairie fires and drought threatened their survival. However, hard work, an unwavering faith in God and financial aid from eastern Mennonite Organizations carried them through these critical years. To commemorate the hardships they endured, the sacrifices they made and the rich heritage they left for us, we dedicate this monument. May their positive christian lives challenge us to rededicate ourselves to a more humble and closer walk with our Creator. "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" I Cor. 3:11.
Where it stands
43.35918, -97.42026 · Directions
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