Furthermore, this Finnish-American sports activity was by no means limited to Minnesota or the Middle West: New York had its Finnish-American Athletic Club, Massachusetts a league of clubs, Chicago its Finnish-American Athletic Association (founded in 1924) and leagues existed in Ohio-Pennsylvania and in West Virginia, and a Kaleva Athletic Club was active in Brooklyn, to cite a few examples. Finnish socialist groups had their own Labor Sports Union, and Minnesota was active in the Mid-West Sports League. However, with Finnish settlement dispersed far and wide in a country of vast size, it is clear that working together on a larger scale was impossible : attempts were made to establish a big, joint athletic league, to work in cooperation with the counterpart in Finland, but in spite of proposals made and preliminary attempts begun, results remained negative.

In addition to general sports, Minnesota also showed considerable interest and progress in skiing and ski-jumping. Much of it, of course, derived from individual enthusiasts here and there in the state: "With plenty of snow and fine hills, skiing is popular among all of us," wrote E. J. Koljonen from the New York Mills region, adding also that the sport had its hazards: "Pioneer Kalle Wapola fell, and his ski pole went through his throat and caused immediate death, while John Arola was permanently injured by a bad fall."

There is no precise information available on the beginning of Finnish skiing competitions in Minnesota. There are some who claim to remember that the newly founded socialist club in Ely arranged a ski meet for members in 1905, but it is more certain that in 1906 one A. Autio, Finnish skiing champion for the 10

his pupil Lampinen coming in second. Subsequent victorious Finns have included Vilho Karvonen, Samuel Koskela, Arthur Peltokangas and Väinö Rantanen. Finns of the younger generation have been successful in school competitions.

Matti Hyvänen, Antti Hiltunen, Albin Parti, John Suomela and William Risto started a shop in Duluth in 1906, selling skis which they made themselves.

In slalom racing, the Swedes and Norwegians were usually the aces in the early years in Minnesota, but once the Finns began to show enthusiasm for this branch of the sport, they began to offer considerable opposition. The Halonen brothers from Virginia - Antti, Eino, Hjalmar and Matti - were outstanding, while many other good performers were developed on the Ely and Cloquet slopes.

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