Between 1874 and 1880, of the approximately 45,000 Mennonites who had been living in South Russia, 10,000 departed for the United States and 8,000 for Manitoba. Available cropland in the central United States was similar to that in their homelands in the Crimean Peninsula. Since the central part of the state was settled, Kansas has enjoyed the reputation as the top wheat-producing state. Settlers in central Kansas, experienced in Russian methods of dryland farming and flour milling, introduced winter wheat in 1873 and quickly saw their industry become dominant. The museums in nearby Hillsboro and Goessel demonstrate the lives and times of these early settlers.