Jill's Genealogy Journey

Stories, Discoveries & Tips

Finnish American Culture

Kettle River, MN

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Recently and unexpectedly, I found myself in Kettle River, MN. Wait, my mom lived here when she was little! Oh look, there is an historical marker in memory of the Finnish pioneers!

And a Finnish church from 1915!



So I had to do more digging. Did you know Kettle River was originally called Finland? There were a lot of Finnish settlers here.

The church was built in 1915. Then they had a terrible fire in 1918. Over 450 died, with fifteen hundred square miles consumed. (More on the fire here.) But the church was spared! There is some interesting information about the church building in this National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. The builders were Kaipainens, which is one of our family names – they could have been cousins. I need to do more digging on that.

Where did they live?

Gertrude and Sulo on the farm in Kettle River in 1950
The Kalevala School in Kettle River, MN about 1950


Lastly, here is some information on the first settlers in the area: Reminiscences of the History of Kalevala District. There are some names in there that could be cousins as well. More digging to do!

Mesabi Pioneers

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This is a book about the first men who started the Mountain Iron Mine. (Which was a big deal! It was the beginning of mining the Mesabi Range, which turned out to be the largest iron ore deposit in the world. It is now an historic landmark & as it says in the National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Mountain Iron Mine, “Minnesota steel was a significant factor in the decisive role this country played in the two World Wars.”)

I wanted to read this book because I knew the main character was Finnish like my great-grandfather & the story was set near where he settled in northern Minnesota. Arthur, the main character, was an early pioneer to the area & my great-grandfather came a bit later, but there are similar Finnish characteristics such as being a man of few words, being a good moral man & sisu of course! I am not sure if all Finns have an aptitude for building, but my family shares this with Arthur as well. Comparing the main facts on the two:

Arthur Maki aka Arvid Mäkelä William Laitala aka Vitho Laitala
Main character of Mesabi Pioneers My great-grandfather
Born 1864 Born 1878
Came to the iron range 1891 Came to Chisholm in 1903 (about 16 miles west of Mountain Iron)
Escaping the Russian military Escaping something too perhaps?

One part of the book that I especially enjoyed was how well the Finn & the Indian got along. They had a lot in common:

  • Appreciation of nature
  • Listening more than talking
  • Being outcasts
  • Being very moral & hard-working, but being treated badly
  • Sweat lodge & sauna
  • Living with names given to them because their original names were too difficult for people

I was also struck with how hard that had to be for people who loved the wilderness to see the pine forests clear cut & huge pits dug into the earth. Mesabi Pioneers is a must read for you if:

  • You have a Finnish immigrant ancestor
  • You have family in or from the Iron Range
  • You are curious about life in frontier Minnesota
  • You are interested in early open pit iron mining

The author did a great job bringing to life what it was like back then, being a pioneer in northern Minnesota. It was a diverse community of immigrants and these people had a lot of strength & determination. You may think historical fiction has to be boring & dry, but it doesn’t! This book is really quite an enjoyable read. Get the book here.

The author is currently working on the next book & you can get updates with how it is going  here.

While this book is fiction, it is based on true events, so I couldn’t resist seeing what pictures I could find. They made this great video about the book that has many magnificent old pictures!:

And of course there are some great old photographs from the MHS:

And I couldn’t ignore this one of what it would have looked like when my great-grandfather arrived:

Miners - Mesabi Range 1903
Miners – Mesabi Range 1903 (from LOC)

Finnish Ancestors On My Mind

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My clever and persistent mother is working on the Laitala part of the family. It sounds like she is finding some cool stuff that we will be able to share soon.

And I have just read Finns in Minnesota by Arnold R. Alanen. It is a quick read at 112 pages & it has lots of fun pictures. I especially liked all the Finnish terms & phrases included, of course Sisu, we have all heard that one before. How about “Oma tupa, oma lupa,” which he translated as “one’s home, one’s way.” (Which differs slightly from Edgar’s translation of “One’s own cabin, one’s own freedom” in Finnish Proverbs in Minnesota.)

Alanen also highlights The Finnish Cookbook by Beatrice Ojakangas – I had to check that one out! She remembered yummy food from her Finnish grandparents & lived in Finland for a year. Her cookbook came out in 1964 & it is more than just recipes. She has an introduction including personality, language & a bit of history. The recipes are put into historical & cultural context & adapted to the American kitchen. Both Finnish & English names appear. There is lots of emphasis on items for the coffee table! Hmmm, I have got to get my hands on some sour rye bread!

In addition, Alanen mentions Bobby Aro & he sounded familiar, so I had to go see what I could find . . .

Bobby Aro Song:

Bobby Aro Documentary:

And here is something fun, a little more recent & actually in Finnish!

Also, my head is full of images of historic Chisholm. We do not usually think of northern Minnesota as the Old West, but Chisholm was that same sort of rough & tumble boomtown with lots of young single Finnish men, working in the mines and lumber camps, living in boarding houses. And then there was lots of drinking & carousing. What an interesting time & place!

There are some great old images in Hans R. Wasastjerna’s History of the Finns in Minnesota – don’t you love these?!

Chisholm Boarding House
Chisholm Boarding House

Finnish Miners
Hibbing Miners 1914, Mostly Finns