Moose Lake - Kettle River - Kalevala - Eagle Town - Cromwell

In the western part of Carlton County, the Kettle River, flowing from north to south, divides the county, leaving a part of it, a 10 to 20 mile wide strip of land between the river and Aitkin County to the west of it. This strip of land is again more or less divided into two, with Moose Lake, Kettle River and Kalevala at the southern end, and Eagle Town, Cromwell and Wright strung out along the northern end. In 1952 the Cromwell chapter of MFAHS, its membership embracing all of this western part of the county, erected a monument in front of the Kalevala school, on State Highway No. 73. This grey granite monument, designed by Edward Johnson, was dedicated to those "Finnish pioneers who

Moose Lake business section after the fire. New building material is being

brought in by rail.

arrived here in the western part of Carlton County in 1872 and thereafter made their homes with courage and perseverance."

Actually, the major wave of Finnish pioneer settlement began later: around 1888, westward out of Moose Lake toward Kettle River and beyond; in 1891, around Eagle Town and what became Cromwell; in 1894, in the northwestern corner of the county, at Wright. Once the Finns arrived in these parts, moreover, the area has remained so obstinately Finnish that it has even become a source of irritation for those who are not Finnish or cannot understand their language. This irritation broke into print, as a

644