The Settlers of Uasin Gishu

By Sam Kurgat

First shared in The Wonders of Sergoit Hills Facebook group on 30 January 2021.

The story of Uasin Gishu is one of wonder, ambition and transformation. This high plateau, stretching between longitudes 34° and 35° East and lying between 1,500 and 2,700 metres above sea level, has long held a legendary allure. From the misty heights of Timboroa in the east to the lower lands of Kipkaren in the west, its vast, open plains once beckoned settlers with promises of fertile soil and endless opportunity.

In 1903, the Van Breda brothers, Bon, Dirk and Piet, were among the first settlers to arrive in Uasin Gishu. Each brother acquired 10,000 acres near the Elgeyo Reserve. Piet, a trained surveyor, mapped out the land himself, helping to lay the groundwork for what would become a settler community.

One of the early trekkers, Willy Van Aardt, chose to settle 64 miles from the railhead, and the place became known as Farm 64. Recognising its strategic importance, Governor Sir Percy Girouard made it the administrative centre for both Uasin Gishu and Trans Nzoia districts. In 1912, the Official Gazette named the area Eldoret, granting it township status over 2,770 acres. When the railway finally reached Eldoret in 1924, the town grew quickly. The legacy of 64 lives on today in names like 64 Stadium, the 64 Resort and Sporting Club and 64 Secondary School.

In the early days, Eldoret bore the marks of rivalry between the Boer and British settlers. The British frequented the Lincoln Hotel, south of Uganda Road, while the Boers gathered at the Wagon Wheel Hotel to the north. Their children attended different schools: Highlands School, now Moi Girls' High School, for the Afrikaners, and Hill School for the British. Africans were excluded from these institutions and even from certain streets. Religious life reflected the same divide. The Afrikaners established the Dutch Reformed Church, while the British built the Anglican Church. In 1909, the Afrikaners built a small bamboo church and a house for their pastor, Rev. Tinie Loubser, at Plateau, and they later built three more churches in central Eldoret.

In 1908, the first major group of Afrikaner settlers arrived in Uasin Gishu. Led by Kommandant J. Jansen van Rensburg, the group became known as the Van Rensburg Trek. Van Rensburg had visited Kenya in 1907 and received a promise from Sir James Hayes Sadler in Nairobi: if he returned with at least 30 families, they would be granted land in Uasin Gishu. He returned with 47 families and three single men. They sailed to Mombasa aboard the Windhoek and began a long, gruelling journey inland by ox wagon.

Some families settled along the way, at Athi River, Solai and Lower Molo, but many continued to Uasin Gishu. Among them were familiar names like Piet Steenkamp, who later moved to Kitale, and George Emslie, whose farm became Karo Farm, home of today's Emslies Primary School. The Steyns, neighbours of the Krugers and of El Farm, helped establish the Livingstone Reformed congregation and a primary school.

The choice of Sergoit as the settlers' destination was no accident. An advance team had scouted the land, riding on horseback from Nakuru to Eldama Ravine, then climbing through cedar forests to a hill known as Farm One, today's Timboroa. From there they gazed upon what they called their promised land: flat, treeless plains teeming with wild game and, to their eyes, uninhabited. Each settler chose land that suited them, with plots ranging from 900 to 5,000 acres depending on their means. In total, 104 farms were established. The Afrikaners preferred the open plains, while the British settled in the highlands. They brought seeds for wheat, maize, beans and vegetables, laying the foundation for Uasin Gishu's farming.

In 1911, a second group of settlers arrived under the leadership of Mr C. J. Cloete, who had first visited the region in 1908. This group brought cattle, sheep and horses by train to Londiani before trekking on to Uasin Gishu. In 1912, Mr J. C. Shaw opened a branch of the Standard Bank of South Africa in Eldoret, which remains the town's oldest bank.

First shared in The Wonders of Sergoit Hills Facebook group on 30 January 2021. Editor's note: the original post described some of the trekkers as "irreconcilables" who had sided with the British in the Anglo Boer War. In South African usage the bittereinders, or irreconcilables, were those who fought to the bitter end against the British, and accounts of the Uasin Gishu trekkers include both former fighters and families seeking a fresh start. Accounts also differ on which railhead the 64 miles were measured from.