Starting at some point about six or so years ago, which means its actually probably more like ten years ago as things that occurred about that time seem more recent to me than they really are, I started running into some type of traditionalist Anabaptist from time to time here in Wyoming.
The first ones I ran into were at the rest stop outside of Waltman. There was a travel trailer there with a flat tire that was being repaired and the people with it were outside of the trailer. In my naivete, as I didn't expect to run into Anabaptist here, I thought at first "oh. . . reenactors", as the women were all wearing what appeared to me to be very traditional 19th Century style dresses with sun bonnets and the men were wearing straw broad brimmed hats, blue shirts, and jeans; and sporting that type of beard which lacks a mustache. Very quickly I realized, however, that they weren't reenactors, they were some sort of community of Anabaptist adherents or perhaps a family of Anabaptists traditionalist.
Now, for those for whom this term is a mystery, what I'm referring to is Christians who are members of a traditionalist Anabaptist denomination, such as the Amish, traditionalist Mennonites, or Hutterites. The most famous of these groups is, of course, the Amish, but there are some Mennoites in Colorado and Nebraska and there are Huttertites in Montana and the prairie provinces of Canada.
This is the Greeley Mennonite Church in Greeley Colorado. The church
was originally a Lutheran church but I don't know when it the Prairie
Gothic church was built.
Now, while these groups are all Anabaptist, they are not all the same, and I don't want to suggest that they are. That is not my intent at all. And while it is my understanding that all Amish are traditionalist in the sense I'm using it (which would likely be grating on their nerves and be regarded as singularly unfair by them), and I think that this is also the case for Hutterites, it is not true for Mennonites. Indeed, there are Mennonite congregations that are not distinct in dress and which are not otherwise traditionalist such as limiting the use of technology over time. I'm frankly unclear on which denomination the group I've been seeing belongs to, and that's what I'm curious about.
I've noted above the first instance in which I encountered them. The second time was, oddly enough, in Sam's Club. There were a group of women who met the description set out above, except I see that their head covering is a simple covering, not a sun bonnet, buying huge lots of flour and other baking goods. Since then I've run into them here and there, most recently at the past two gun shows here in town.
On the first of those occasions two men and a boy were present selling old farm equipment. A woman was present selling baked goods, and seemed to be married to one of the men. The men were all dressed as described save for wearing cowboy boots, which causes me to lean towards Hutterites. This past weekend they were back but it was two different women and a different man, and they were all selling baked goods. The man was wearing heavy work boots.
The presence of traditionalist Anabaptists in Wyoming would be a new thing and I'm curious. Does anyone know who they might be, what group they're actually in, and where their community or communities are located?
