The strange story of how Russian Cossacks fled civil war to be peanut farmers in Katherine

Of all the local histories of migration to Australia, the story of the Cossacks who became peanut farmers in the Northern Territory town of Katherine is perhaps one of the strangest.

In the 1920s, a small group of Russian men from one of the world’s coldest climates found their way to the NT and grew peanuts in the formidable tropical heat.

Katherine Museum’s local historian Simone Croft said many men were from aristocratic families.

“They had a huge skill set,” she said.

“They were artists, musicians, and had been to conservatoriums and done degrees on classical music.