Dodo-Gol

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Dodo-Gol is a village in the Khorinsky District of Buryatia. Its Buryat name means “lower valley.” The settlement began when the Buryats moved from a nomadic life to a settled one, influenced by Russian expansion into Siberia.

Before 1936 it belonged to the Khorinsky District. It lay along the Uda River and had about 50 families living 200–300 meters apart. Each family kept cattle, sheep, and horses and farmed large plots for crops and hay. In the summer they moved to five camps east of their winter homes and returned in autumn.

After the Soviet power arrived in 1922–1923, the Toz-Gol agricultural cooperative was formed, and in 1930 the Osoviakhim cooperative began. The early leaders included Badmaev Gympyl, Tsydyp Tsyrenov, Budazhap Zhanaev, Prokopiy Pronin, and Bolkhosho Babudaev. In 1933 a major flood forced the residents to move north and form one village, which is where Dodo-Gol is today.

From 1936 to 1961 Dodo-Gol was part of Zaigraevsky District. In 1939 the artel became the “Defense of the USSR” collective farm, with Dondok Badmaevich Badmayev as chairman. The farm introduced tractors and machines from nearby farms, and the local metalworkers, the darkhans, gained wide renown in the Khorin Valley. A forge and other workshops supported the farm, along with mills and a threshing floor.

In December 1940 settlers from Tatarstan arrived, bringing 10 more families. When World War II began, many residents were drafted. Forty-five men went to the front and 28 did not return. Those who stayed behind worked on the collective farm, following the motto “Everything for the front, everything for Victory.” They raised cattle, grew wheat, harvested hay, and prepared animal feed. Blacksmith Ochirov Chimitsyren repaired equipment and helped with farming, while women like Darima Zhamsueva and Khandama Rakshaeva drove tractors. Teenagers helped with feeding and firewood.

The village and its workers received several honors for their war effort. From 1943 to 1952 Sundulga, a nearby village, was annexed to Dodo-Gol. After the war, leadership of the collective farm changed several times, and its name changed as well, becoming Malenkov and then “Path to Communism.”

In 1956 Dodo-Gol merged with Verkhniye Taltsy, and the farm was renamed “Communism.” It was led by Tamara Ivanovna Makarova and Tamara Fedorovna Dubkova. In 1948 the first administrative building was built, housing an office and a farm club, followed by a library. A demobilized soldier, Munko Ochirovich Chimitsyrenov, became the farm club director and started a local radio station in 1949, giving the village radio coverage.

In 1961 Dodo-Gol moved from Zaigraevsky District to the Khorinsky District, joining the Udinsky state farm. In 1976 it became part of the Verkhne-Taletsky state farm as Department No. 2, a status it kept until the late 1990s. During those years the department’s facilities were strengthened, with winter shelters, sheep pens, calf houses, and two-apartment worker housing built. In 1985 a stone cowshed for 200 head, a new fattening barn, a boiler house, a feed mill, and a team house were opened. In 1986 the village club with a library and a first-aid station was built.