By 1926, portions of the Chortitzer and Sommerfeld Mennonite churches belived they could no longer trust the Canadian government after they had lost control of educating their children. Samuel McRoberts, a wealthy banker who, at the behest of his wife, helped the Mennonites by purchasing their land on the prairies and selling them land in Paraguay. These photos were likely taken by McRobert's associate, Fred Engen and were intended to show the progress and good conditions in the Menno Colony in Paraguay and thus encouraging more movement to Paraguay.
A train is on the railroad at Kilometer 63 from Puerto Casado to the colony. There a two people in the foreground and trees of the Chaco bush in the background.
The photo shows two men standing in front of a bridge on a raised road bed going from Km 145 to the colony approaching Pozo Azul. The Chaco bush is in the background.
The photo shows the southward view of the future nursery garden at Hoffnungsfeld. There is scrub vegetation in the foreground and the Chaco bush in the background.
Three Mennonite men are working with hoes along straight rows in the nursery garden at Hoffnungsfeld, while another man and women appear to be seeding by hand. The garden is surrounded by bush.
The photo shows an indigenous man and woman using a primitive plow hitched up to a pair of oxen to plow a field at Hoffnungsfeld. There are a couple of trees scattered throughout the field with denser bush surrounding the field.
The photo shows two men engaged in the sale and purchase of sacks of product under a tree in Hoffnungsfeld. The warehouse in the back is used to store the sacks. There is an ox-cart and wheelbarrow on the left and a team of oxen on the right.
The photo shows a truck, a wagon pulled by a team of horses and a wagon pulled by a team of oxen in Hoffnungsfeld. The wagons are owned by Johann Toews and I. Fehr. There are a total of five Mennonites posing with the wagons. There is grassland in the foreground and the Chaco bush in the background.
The photo shows seven people unloading sacks of unknown content from the caterpillar. There are two people near a warehouse on the left side. An assortment of primitive farm implements are seen in the foreground including several plows and a harrow.
The photo shows several indigenous men building a road in the sump in Hoffnungsfeld. There is the frame of a building in the center of the photo. It is surrounded by mixed vegetation: grass, bushes and trees.
The photo shows the house of Dietrich A. Neufeld in Bergthal. It appears to have clay walls and a thatched roof. A chimney extends through the roof on the left side. There are more buildings in the background.
The photo shows Johan Funk and his second wife Aganetha with two of their children standing in a field of potatoes in Bergthal. In the background there appears to be a field of "Sudan" grass.
The photo shows part of the Dietrich Neufeld plantation in Bergthal, Menno Colony. On the right side in the back there appears to be a planting of "Sudan" grass.
The photo shows the first buildings on the Johann B. F. Toews homestead in Laubenheim. There are two main structures with several sections each underneath tall trees, some are tent-like, some made of corrugated sheets of metal. There are four family members in front of the building on the left.
