Mikhel and Julia Palkman

Estonian picnic near Chester, Montana in the United States in 1916. A number of Estonian pioneers originally settled in Barons, Alberta in 1904 and then relocated to Chester, Montana about 1910. Pictured are Musten, Malberg, Krikental, Yurman, Kewe, Minnick, Palkman, Laas, Arick and Waht families. Mikhel Palkman emigrated from Crimea in 1903 and lived in both North and South Dakota before moving to Alberta, where he took out a homestead in the Barons area. His wife, Julia Musten, came from Estonia in 1904 with her family. Mikhel and Julia were married in 1905 in a sod house. Three of their children were born in Alberta: Emily, Albert, and Walter.

In 1910, Mikhel and Julia sold their homestead and moved to Montana, where they homesteaded on 320 acres. There, they had four more children: Alida, Ida, Linda, and Claudine.

Mikhel suffered from leukemia and died in 1955. Emily died in 1970. Albert lives in Spokane, and the remaining children live in California. Julia now lives with her daughter Linda.

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