How people live in the Russian outback — the urban-type settlement of Samus
A brief history of the settlement and a photo report that gives an idea of life in the Russian outback
Greetings, dear reader of my humble blog. Last weekend we went to visit my wife’s mother and congratulated her on her 70th birthday. In general, of course, we go there regularly, 1–2 times a week. She lives at a distance of 40 kilometers from us, in a small urban-type village of Samus.
Using the example of a short story about the village, I think to show my readers a piece of the life of ordinary Russians living outside the cities. Most of the story will be narratively historical. If this is not interesting to the reader, you can immediately scroll to the end of this entry, where I posted photos taken directly on this trip, which can be used to judge the life of a simple resident of the village. I apologize in advance for the quality of the photos-taken on a Chinese phone, since my SLR camera fell to the death of the brave in a car accident 4 years ago.
Samus is an urban-type settlement with a population of about 5,600 people at the moment. In practice, this means a locality of the type of a simple large village, in which there is some small part of the “stone” building. In Samus, there are a couple of blocks with modern apartment buildings with amenities of 3–5 floors high, a capital stone school, a cultural center, a factory management building of the main local enterprise. In general, the signs of an urban-type settlement are obvious. But most of the village is built up with old wooden houses-huts without amenities such as centralized water supply, as in an ordinary village. Our mother-in-law lives in such a place, closer to the edge of the village. Among ourselves, we generally call the village the village of “Samuski”.
A small reference from the family history:
In general, my wife and her parents, brothers and their families came from Kazakhstan. In the nineties, nationalist sentiments broke out in all the breakaway republics, and Russians began to survive in one way or another. In some cases, this was literally violent, and in others, the authorities created conditions under which the Russians had no prospects in their career or development. So it was with my future wife, who lived with her family in Northern Kazakhstan. Russian Russian land, in which all the cities were founded by Russians, was historically a native Russian land. This huge territory was administratively attached to the Kazakh SSR based on the stupid idea of administratively delineating the areas of mainly industrial economy of the Urals and Western Siberia with the livestock region, which historically was the territory of Kazakhstan. The government of Stalin cut it off, as they call it, without taking into account the opinion of the local population. Naturally, no one thought about the division of the union republics in the future.
In general, it did not work out well. As I have already mentioned, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, in the wake of the outbreak of nationalism in the former Soviet republics, their new governments, with the help of laws and the media, promoting nationalist ideas and pitting people against each other on the basis of nationality, began to squeeze the Russian-speaking population out of these territories. Despite the total advantage in the number of Russian-speaking population in Northern Kazakhstan, laws were passed that discriminated against native speakers of the Russian language. Without a good knowledge of the national Kazakh language, it is impossible to get any government job. However, even those who have learned the language, which has hitherto been almost unused in this area, have almost no chance to build a career in Russian in Kazakhstan — at the household level, there is tacit clan-national discrimination and “nepotism” (all only for relatives). Non-Kazakhs by nationality will never be taken to any good or managerial position.
This is the so-called soft discrimination. In the early nineties, it was different, especially in the southern regions. The family of a good friend of mine was forced to flee to Russia from Ayaguz, abandoning all their possessions under threats of adult murder and child slavery.
Statistically, the number of Russian-speaking residents only during the reign of Nazarbayev in Kazakhstan decreased by more than one and a half times. And the process continues. Of course, I understand the purpose of Kazakhstan’s state policy, but I can’t accept it at all.
Enough, perhaps, of the political digression from the topic of this record. In general, in view of these events, the family of my future wife, having sold their property to the Kazakhs at home for a song, moved to Russia. Under the program, the refugees received citizenship. The funds were enough only for an old wooden house in the village, although in Kazakhstan they lived in a four-room apartment in a high-rise building in an industrial city. There they found themselves in the village of Samus.
But it was there that I met my future beloved wife :)
Let’s return to the story about the village of Samus itself.
Where the village of Samus stands today, civilization flourished more than five millennia ago. People in these places knew bronze casting, ceramics and conducted cultural exchange with the population of Western Siberia.
In the 50s of the twentieth century, a burial ground was excavated here, where a unique figure of a bear made of soft yellow sandstone was found.
This figure, dating from the VI-V millennium BC, became the basis for the coat of arms of the village.
The official date of birth of the modern village of Samus is considered to be 1895, although the history of its origin actually began a little earlier.
In general, historically, Samus can be considered a village of rivermen. And the shipbuilding and repair yard was actually the main city-forming enterprise here since the appearance of the first construction on the site of the village.
In November 1879, the merchant steamer “Gagara” with cargo found salvation from the impending ice in the mouth of the Samus River. The crew of the steamer dug two dugouts — for housing and a workshop. During the winter, the steamer was repaired. Having successfully spent the winter, and having waited out the spring ice drift, the ship continued on its way past Tomsk to Biysk. Since that time, it is customary to count the beginning of the history of the village of Samus and the Samus Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Plant.
The news of a convenient place for wintering at the mouth of the taiga river Samus quickly spread among shipowners. In the autumn of 1880, escaping from the possibility of being wiped out by ice, the steamship Arseny stopped at the mouth of the same river Samus for the winter. Taking advantage of the primitive base, the crew repaired the steamer and safely began a new navigation.
In 1881, the Tomsk merchant I. Nekrasov has already specially placed the steamship Blagoslavenny here for winter parking and repairs.
In 1890, by order of the Ministry of Railways, an engineer, state Councilor, Baron Aminov Bjork Alexandrovich, was sent to Tomsk. His main concern was the completion of the Ob-Yenisei Canal, which was started in 1883. Engineers and technicians with excellent metropolitan education served on the staff of the Tomsk District of Waterways. They became interested in the Samussky slop point. Baron Aminov visited Samuski. After examining the wintering place of the steamers, he submitted to the government a proposal on the feasibility of creating a large backwater for settling and repairing ships.
The archival documents state:
“the Kizhirovskaya Channel, the right branch of the Tom River at the mouth of the Samus River, serves as a wintering ground for state-owned vessels and shells of the Tomsk Water District on the Tom River near the city of Tomsk. This place is located 35 versts from the city of Tomsk and is the only convenient place for setting up ships for the winter.”
In the spring of 1891, a team of specially sent workers arrived at this place, who built several residential and industrial premises. From the Ob-Yenisei Canal, state-owned residential buildings were brought, which still stand today on Akademika Pekarsky Street, creating a special flavor for the modern village, and equipment for blacksmithing, mechanical and carpentry shops. The resulting plant was used for the repair of river vessels.
By the way, the abandoned Ob-Yenisei Canal is an interesting topic for an article about the object of extreme tourism, perhaps I will certainly write an article about it. After all, an expedition along the route of this channel is a giant experience, an exclusive adventure in the truly wild Siberian nature, and respect for a very complex route.
Since 1897, the settlement of the future village has been settled by permanent residents. The first to remain permanently was Ivan Stepanovich Popov, a carpenter on the steamship Blagoslavenny, born in 1855, and his wife Anna Andreyevna, born in 1861. During their marriage, they had 22 children. Ivan Stepanovich worked all his life at the nascent ship repair company.
The former winter quarters of ships in distress have grown to the size of a village. This was the beginning of a new settlement on the banks of the Tom River.
In the future, the village and its flagship production-the ship repair plant-developed systematically. During its operation, the Samus plant has repaired several thousand river vessels. Having mastered the technology of ship repair, the company “Samussky ship repair zaton” started a new business for itself-shipbuilding.
By order of the Ministry of Railways in 1912, two ships were brought from England in disassembled form: “Tura” and “Konda” with a capacity of 100 hp each. Within a year, these two ships were assembled, tested and sent to sail on the Tom and Ob rivers. This was the beginning of shipbuilding in the Samus ship repair zaton
Further development of shipbuilding occurred in 1935–36, when the first 80-horsepower wheeled flues were built from scratch.
During the Great Patriotic War (World War II), along with the repair and construction of the fleet, the plant’s staff produced defense products. Mines were manufactured in a specially equipped workshop. The work was carried out around the clock, in three shifts. 504 people — almost half of the population-went to the front from the village. Returned of course much less. The remaining old men, women and children stood behind the machines and began to prepare food.
504 people out of a thousand and a half, including women and children… Every third person alive. This is to reflect on the significance of such a phenomenon as the” Immortal Regiment “ and in general the memory of the Great Patriotic War (World War II).
In the post-war years, the main production of our river village returned to its main activity-the repair and construction of peaceful river transport. Production gradually developed, mastering new technologies.
Along with it, the village grew, and new multi-storey buildings with amenities were laid. The infrastructure of the village was being rebuilt. A chain of shops, a school, a house of culture and recreation, a museum, a hospital was expanded (the main part of which, however, is still located in old wooden buildings).
With the collapse of the USSR, the devastation came here, of course. The Samus shipyard barely survived — the heart of the village could not stop the predatory fangs of wild capitalism and oligarchic banditry. Slowly, the plant and the village are getting out of the crisis of the 90s.
For example, the launch of the luxurious 48-meter premium yacht “Baiterek” with a displacement of more than 400 tons for the Kazakh oligarchs can be considered a symbol of restoration.
In 2008, a glass factory opened in the village, giving the village its second main enterprise. This is actually like a second heart for the village.
Of the most famous natives of the village of Samus, you should first of all remember the outstanding doctor, professor of medicine, academician Pekarsky, one of the developers of the famous “Kremlin pill” — an autonomous electric stimulator of the gastrointestinal tract, developed in Tomsk in the early 80s of the last century.
In the vicinity of the village there are seven lakes with a sandy bottom, which gave the area around the village of Samus the popular name “Semiozerki”. The water in the lakes is an unusual amber color of strongly brewed tea due to the numerous streams flowing into the lakes from peat bogs. This is one of the most favorite places of summer recreation for residents of Tomsk, who come to swim and sunbathe on the shore at the pine edge of the forest in the evenings and on weekends. Perhaps, in the summer, there are even too many vacationers here.
Since 2006, the area around the lakes has been declared a specially protected natural area, to preserve nature from external influences. And there is excellent summer and winter fishing on the lakes. In late summer and autumn, the forests around the village are a paradise for mushroom pickers. Housing near nature has its undeniable advantages, although of course they are proportional to the lack of”civilization”.
Now it’s time for my little photo report about my weekly visit to my wife’s mother in the village of Samus:
There is no central water supply in such wooden houses as ours in the old part of the village. There is no tap with either cold water or hot water. Residents carry water to their homes in buckets and cans from wells with pumps near the central road.
Of course, it is not recommended to drink water directly from the well, but the wells here are not deep. Pre-heat treatment is required. This is not my native Seversk, where cold water is extracted from deep artesian wells and, in principle, is suitable for drinking directly from the tap.
Yes, there is also no toilet inside the house, of course, we have it in the corner of the covered courtyard. Under it is a cesspool, which is periodically pumped out by sewage collectors. Realizing the importance of this room, I opened the doors to capture the interior. I feel like this might shock a city dweller. But in general, our toilet is still quite comfortable. Sometimes, in old courtyards, it generally stands on the street somewhere at the end of the garden. Even running up to it in winter in -40 is still a challenge. Inside your own courtyard is still better. Although it is also cold, since it is not heated. At least there’s no wind.
Behind the house we have a sauna and a chicken coop attached to it. We don’t keep chickens now, so there are still agricultural supplies in it. In the baths, the villagers wash and wash their clothes. For this purpose, the baths as well as the house are heated by a special oven. Inside, the bath is divided into two rooms: the dressing room and the actual hermetically sealed bath room itself, where the heat from the stove is “stored”.
Sauna shelves, where they “steam” and wash, oven. The second photo shows a prepared birch broom. It is used in the traditional Russian bath rite. A “steaming” (taking a bath) person lying on a shelf inside the hot part of the bath is not beaten with strong long-lasting slaps with a wet hot broom, so that the pores of the skin open and clear, take the woody aroma of the bath. I think this ritual is shocking to a Western person, but for most Russians it is familiar. It has very ancient roots. This ritual cleanses the body well even without soap and has a powerful tonic and healing effect on the body with the correct application of the technique of blows and the appropriate temperature.
In the photo, everything is so gray and nondescript — this is the camera of a Chinese smartphone, which does not transmit a wide dynamic range (I already told you that my SLR camera was destroyed in a car accident), and of course we have the simplest bath in principle. Our house and yard here is the clearest example of the most average ordinary resident. No design frills, everything is subordinated to functionality and cheapness. In the economy, everything is done, which is called “from what is at hand”. This is normal for a simple resident of a Russian village.
This is our vegetable garden — a plot of land owned near the house, where we grow for ourselves some vegetables, berries, decorative flowers. We use this space for recreation and so on.
Here you can also see that literally everything that can be found is used. The sides of the greenhouse are made of old boards, the borders of the beds are made of bottles dug into the ground, flower beds inside old car tires…
For the first course, the traditional Russian seasonal cold soup “okroshka”. Please note that the “okroshka” is on the table for guests with different refueling. People from Kazakhstan prefer vinegar water in the dressing, but I eat okroshka with kvass. I already wrote in my blog about okroshka here:
