CORINNA – With urban sprawl encroaching on their Midwestern settlement, the Amish couple turned their eyes to Maine, put money down on some land, packed their meager belongings and made the seven-month trek by horse and buggy across the country to their new home.

It was to have been a new beginning, a place where they could work the rich fertile soils in Aroostook County. Instead, the trusting, hardworking couple quickly learned they had been scammed.

Upon their arrival in mid-October, Danl and Ruanna Yoder waited patiently at a predetermined location to meet the real estate broker to whom they had forwarded the proceeds from the sale of their home. The so-called real estate broker never showed, and they later learned that their promised land was nowhere to be found.

Despite this misfortune, the childless couple were so enamored of the hospitality they encountered and the miles of fields waiting to be cultivated for growing fresh produce, that they plan to stay. They are optimistic that they’ll find several thousand acres where they and others in their order can settle.

“There were some misfortunes along the way, but that’s part of life; we like to dwell on the good fortune and the wonderful experience,” Danl said during a recent interview at the Trebor Inn in Guilford where they visited with owner Robert Shaffer and his family.

The Yoders, who had to ship their horses to Ohio to be wintered and who now are living in their covered wagon in a Somerset County field, were extremely reluctant to tell of their mishaps for fear people would pity them.

“It was very embarrassing,” Danl said of the loss of his money.

“We’re not angry with the man who cheated us, God’s will has been done,” Danl said. “Misfortune is nothing more than a guide, it is a lesson that God expects us all to go through. No one is immune to misfortune.” Instead, they look eagerly to their future in their new adopted state, a future they say was shaped by a vision.

As Ruanna’s hands knitted woolen yarn into a sweater for her husband, Danl said it was an identical vision they both had seven years ago that prompted them to move northeast accompanied by their five Scottish terriers and several specialty homing pigeons. In that vision, the Amish were tilling the soil in Maine, raising crops and dairy products to feed themselves and the general public.

“We have had horrible fears of how we would accomplish this; these kinds of things are frightful,” Danl said. As the first to make the move to the Northeast, Danl said, he can advise those who follow on what problems they might encounter – problems such as working for people along the way and not getting paid because they know the Amish are just passing through, or the death of their Clydesdale horses. “When my Clydesdale died, I fell to my knees and just wept, she was so special to us,” Danl said. He admitted it made him rethink the journey yet they pressed on, encouraged by men and women they met who showed them kindness.

Some provided hay and water for the horses, while others offered words of encouragement. When their horse died, a Kentucky farmer offered a horse in exchange for Danl’s help building a house. He also was provided with the wood needed to rebuild their black buggy, which the couple found wasn’t roadworthy for the long journey.

Their route took them mostly over back roads since horses are not allowed on most highways. Sometimes, the Yoders would find themselves several miles along a road only to see a sign that said animals were prohibited, Danl said. When this happened, they quickly took the next exit. “We found that locals were the best road map,” he said.

The couple were amazed, they said, when they arrived in Maine and found miles of fields stretching as far as the eye could see, yet they were sad to see the land was wasted. The state could do much for economic development if farms were revived and tourists traveled for miles for the quality produce, Danl said.

“You have less visionaries here; the people in Maine are rugged, they are tough frontiersmen with no frontier, seers with no vision and farmers with no implements,” Danl said. “The Amish are like a beehive; you put them out on that land and leave them alone and they go to work being Amish.” The produce they grow, the sawmills they open and the furniture they make have prompted a huge spike in tourism wherever the Amish have settled, he said.

As members of the Scots Amish Old World order, the Yoders typically dress in black clothing and eschew modern conveniences, electricity and publicity, so it was highly unusual for the couple to speak about their experiences. Many details of their trip to Maine and personal information such as their ages and their home state the couple declined to provide.

“Our church state is a serious church state; we don’t go to church on a given day and then live like the devil the rest of the week. We are Amish every day,” Danl said. He said his clan was a peace-loving people who found great joy tilling the earth and producing crops.

“People who are living off the land are joyful, No banker can promise the revenue of $1 like God can from one tomato seed,” Danl said.

Extremely optimistic that affordable acreage can be found for planting, the couple are making handmade wooden lawn chairs and working odd jobs to raise funds while staying in their wagon and living off the land in Corinna. They recognize that they need to find a vacant home to live in during the winter months and are hopeful of finding one soon. The winter will provide them time to plan for the growing season.

“If we died today this vision is going to happen in the Northeast because there are so many people starving for farms,” Danl said.