The immigration of Volga Germans to Colorado was intimately connected with the development of the sugarbeet industry in the state. Sugar refineries were built in 1900 in Sugar City and Rocky Ford, CO. Volga Germans were recruited to this area from Denver,CO, Herrington, KS, and Lincoln, NE. The sugarbeet industry swiftly expanded into northeastern, CO with refineries established in Loveland, Eaton, Windsor, Greeley, Brighton, Fort Lupton, Longmont, Fort Collins, Sterling and Fort Morgan. In the 1920s Colorado had the largest population of Volga Germans with 19,750 individuals (first and second generation).

Volga Germans from Nebraska and Colorado moved to Billings, Montana when the first sugar refinery was built there in 1906. Expansion of Volga Germans into the North Platt River Valley of Nebraska was later, in 1910 when a sugar refinery was constructed in Scottsbluff. Workers came from Loveland and Sterling, CO and Lincoln, NE. Major Volga German Settlements developed in a short time in Scottsbluff, Gering, Mitchell, Morrills and Melbeta.

In Wyoming the settlements of Wheatland, Worland and Lovell sprang up in 1915-1916 simultaneously with the development of the sugarbeet industry. While the settlements in Sheridan and Riverton derive from extensions of the Montana beet industry, Torrington is a transplant from Scottsbluff, NE.

     

Source: 1) "Russian-German Settlements in the United States" by Richard Sallet, translated and edited by LaVern Rippley and Armand Bauer. 2) German Volga mail list subscribers