Munjor

History

The Munjor community was one of six settlements founded in 1876 by Volga German immigrants from Russia. Their German ancestors had immigrated to the Volga Region of Russia around 1767 at the invitation of Catherine the Great in 1763. Catherine invited the German people to Russia to develop the vast steppes and promised them land, freedom from military conscription and religious freedom. By about 1870 these privileges were at risk. Because of impending military conscription and loss of religious freedom, the communities of German settlers along the Volga River elected five men to act as scouts to inspect the prospects of life in America. Peter Leiker (of Obermonjou), Peter Stecklien (of Zug), Anton Wasinger (of Schönchen), Nicholas Schamme (of Graf), and Jacob Ritter (of Luzern) left from Obermonjou, Russia in 1874, landed in New York City and traveled westward as far as Nebraska. They found the prospects of life in America and the farmland of Nebraska favorable and returned to Russia with their report. Encouraged by the accounts of these men, a group of colonists left Russia in 1875 and landed in Baltimore on November 23, 1875. They traveled westward, spending the winter in Topeka, Kansas and then moved on to settle in Ellis County in the spring of 1876. Other groups followed in the spring and summer months of 1876. The largest group was composed of 108 families which left from Saratov on July 8, 1876. The group divided into two parts for ocean transportation, the larger part coming on the North-German Lloyd Line, and the rest by way of the Hamburg-American Line. In this latter group were the founders of Munjor, including three of the original scouts: Peter Leiker, Anton Wasinger, and Peter Stecklein.

Geography

Munjor lies on the southwestern side of Big Creek, a tributary of the Smoky Hill River, in the Smoky Hills region of the Great Plains. Munjor is roughly south of Interstate 70, east of U.S. Route 183 and southeast of Hays, the county seat.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,537
• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  1,912
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,678
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  1,564
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,338
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  1,267
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  974
• Common Grackle

  Quiscalus quiscula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  974

Most recent

• M 2.5 — 2026-06-16
  9 km SW of Natoma, Kansas
• M 2.9 — 2026-02-02
  7 km N of Hays, Kansas
• M 2.8 — 2025-12-04
  6 km NW of Wilson, Kansas
• M 2.9 — 2025-11-29
  5 km SW of Kirwin, Kansas
• M 2.6 — 2025-11-29
  6 km NE of Dorrance, Kansas
• M 2.7 — 2025-11-19
  8 km NE of Dorrance, Kansas