Ekaterinburg is the junction of various railroads, connecting the Siberian main line via Perm with Tiumen and Cheliabinsk and other side lines. On Father’s wedding date November 14th, 1894, old style, a library and free reading room was given by him; and every year thereafter, whole sets of books were sent to Cheliabinsk on this day. He described to us the tea packaging business at Kiakhta in the Transbaikal, from where many of our grey horses came.
On the way to Tiumen we saw feeding stations, medical shelters and railroad car churches and portable schools. They were built for the convenience of the settlers. Practically in every city was a school or a hospital built from the funds of my Grandfather.
We kept climbing higher and in the morning we stopped near the town of Bazhenovo. Some peasants who saw us wanted to come close to us, but were sent back by the guards. They told the men that the distilleries, which had been closed during the war, were reopened and the people were becoming intoxicated on the spirits and wines produced there. They also said that the emerald mines already had been closed and that the workers were spending their time in the wine cellars getting drunk.
On the fourth midnight our train arrived in Tiumen where we were to take a boat to Tobolsk. While our trunks and other heavy boxes were being loaded on the boat, we walked for several hours through the dimly-lighted street near the dock in the cool Siberian air and crossed the three railroad tracks to the boat. In the distance and around the bend of the river we could see the flickering lights of the city of Tiumen.
We boarded the small, two-decker steamer “Rossia.” Father and his friends stayed on the deck until morning. We sisters got up early to get a view of the city in the distance, but the boat was already on its way, escorted by two smaller vessels, “Kormilets” and “Sibiriak.” We passed many small rivers, and swamps and lakes, parts of which were covered with reeds and millions of red flowers. Mother called them saltwort. We saw some red foxes and white partridges, and on a swamp there was a singing swan. We saw many beautiful birds, some familiar to us and some not.
Father said Godunov, Volynsky and Prince Bariatinsky contributed a great deal to the progress of Tiumen. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich founded Tiumen in 1664 and visited this frozen land himself. Alexander II constructed hospitals and later Father sponsored shelters, feeding places and medical centers for the exiles on their way to the settlements.
Speaking of exiles in Siberia, the first exiles to Tobolsk Government began at the time of the murder of Tsarevich Dimitri in 1591. Two Romanov brothers, Ivan and Vasili Nikitich Yuriev-Zakharin, and Prince Beloselsky were banished in 1601 by Tsar Boris Godunov. Later even Sheremetiev and Prince Dolgorukov were exiled to Tiumen and Tobolsk. The descendants of those old families were close friends. Another coincidence: the first Romanov was to visit Siberia and the last Romanov was to die in Siberia. The people believed that Ivan the Terrible was responsible for the establishment of the prisons here. However, vicious propaganda tried to make the people believe that it was Father who had established these prison camps. This was nothing more than an unadulterated Bolshevik lie.
In the late afternoon we came to the juncture of the Tobol and the Tura Rivers. We passed the village of Pokrovskoe where on a high bank overlooking the Tobol stood Rasputin’s house. Soon the Irtysh River met the Tobol, and we continued on the Irtysh, which by now had become wider. On the second day, late in the afternoon we arrived in front of Tobolsk. This city seemed to be built on two levels of a hill, one above the other. Near the upper level of the town was a stone wall. We were told that this wall was a fortress and was built in the 16th century in order to protect the new colonies from invasion by plundering Kirghiz, Kazak and Kalmuk tribes. There were lots of people at the wharf; apparently they had heard of our coming. Dr. Botkin, Colonel Kobylinsky and Commissar Makarov went to see the Governor’s house, where we were to stay, and they found that the house was being redecorated and was not yet ready for occupancy, so we continued to live on the boat for a number of days. They also found that the furniture was inadequate and the beds were not suitable for our parents. They took it upon themselves to find beds. Later Makarov purchased even a piano, using a part of his own money for this purpose.
During the day the steamer made little trips on the river. Several times we went ashore for a walk and once to the monastery of Abalak, around the bend where the Irtysh and the Tobol Rivers met.
A carriage from the monastery was provided for Mother’s use, but the rest of us preferred to walk the narrow road up the hill, under a strong guard. The monastery stood amidst lovely grounds on a hill not far from the landing place. There were people on one side at the monastery church, who began to cry when they saw us. We prayed before the miraculous Image of the Holy Virgin with her hands raised from her elbows and the Christ Child resting in the folds of her robe. Her headgear was studded with pearls.