Imagine the journey of the families whose names can still be read here at the Lake Hoskins Historic Settlement Marker..  The 17th and 18th centuries in Germany were difficult times.

On a spring day in 1898, Wilhelmina Geiszler watched from her home as flames burned on the horizon. Wind blew smoke across the prairie where her husband, John, was out plowing the fields.

The first settlement of Germans from Russia arrived in South Dakota in 1872, and twelve years later, in 1884, the first settlement of Germans from Russia arrived in North Dakota just north of Zeeland.

German-Russian Country is the heartland of the Black Sea Germans, Germans from Russia who settled on the Great Plains of North America. The Germans from Russia are among the most visible and vibrant ethnic immigrant cultures of the plains. Three counties in South Central North Dakota — Emmons, Logan and McIntosh — are at the center of German-Russian Country, and we are proud to share that rich history along their Talking Trail... #ExperienceTheStory