in Leipold, etc. The course of developments in each followed a similar pattern.

"Suomi Siirtola" - Finnish settlement - was the name of the land agency which existed briefly but managed to sell land in Jacobson to four Finnish families before it went out of business. The first to arrive on the scene were Alex Huhtala and Emil Siukola, who both came in 1903, Huhtala to the eastern shore of the Mississippi, Siukola across the river. Henry Huhtala wad the first child born here.

In the summer a river steamer used to sail twice a week to Aitkin, the county

seat, and there were no other communications except for a few paths and trails. The river boat was also a travelling store, selling all kinds of supplies. In 1921, however, the local Finns started their own cooperative store, and a jointly owned thresher helped them on

their farms. When the settlement gradually became stabilized., the farmers of the region built a hall, and later the Finns alone built one of their own, a Farmers Hall. Another such hall was in Rabey, while Leipold even had its own workers' society, with 20 members in 1910. In 1950, a local chapter of the MFAHS was started in Jacobson, but it proved relatively ineffectual.

East Lake - Balsam - Beaver - Rice Lake - Salo -
Tamarack - Lawler - Arthyde - Palisade

Closely related with the Finnish settlements to the east in Carlton County, the communities of Balsam, Beaver, Rice Lake and Savo were among those which saw Finnish settlement within their borders in the 1890s. Some Finns managed to procure homestead lands for themselves; the majority purchased lands, the earliest ones being able to buy relatively large tracts at low prices, with a decrease in the value of the dollar, prices of land went up: in 1919, for example, Frans Ilomäki bought 10 acres

Emil Siukola's saw mill at Jacobson in 1910.

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