Many Finnish immigrants worked as copper miners but quickly traded that work for homesteading in the woods due to poor working conditions. They cleared the land to make way for farms. A farmer's co-op formed and it was a thriving dairy farming community.

Second and third generation Finns worked on the farms as kids. They had freedom to run and play. There was a strong visiting and sauna culture among neighbors. As they grew up they began to leave the area to find work and education.

The descendants of the Finnish immigrants move away to the cities to go to school and find work. Big box stores pushed out the small dairy farm. Finnish culture deteriorated in Pelkie. Mennonites and strangers moved in while a couple Finns remained.