The history of the broadsheet newspaper Raivaaja (The Pioneer) is traceable to an earlier publication, Pohjan Tähti (The North Star), which was started in the Finnish-American enclave of Fitchburg, Massachusetts by a private entrepreneur, Alex Heisson, who sought to launch a profitable publication to serve the community's large and growing Finnish-speaking population.

[1] Taking a calculated political risk, the aspiring capitalist publisher hired a talented socialist editor, émigré Finnish newcomer Taavi Tainio.

The initial subscription rate was set at $1.25 per year, postpaid through the mail, with fixed costs of approximately $300 per month projected,[5] including a salary of $12 per week to be paid to editor Tainio.

[7] In the early 1920s Raivaaja moved to a moderate social democratic position during the factional war of the Finnish Socialist Federation.

The list of editors include major names of Finnish American labor movement such as Moses Hahl, Santeri Nuorteva, Aku Päiviö, Frans Josef Syrjälä and Oskari Tokoi.

"[8] Although the underlying Finnish-American organization supporting the paper remained the same, Raivaaja also severed its connection from the Socialist Party from this date.

[4] This proved to be the high-water mark for the publication, however, as restrictions to American immigration law imposed in the 1920s virtually halted Finnish-speaking newcomers for many years.

[10] In the two decades from 1920 to 1940, the number of Finnish speakers in America who were born abroad fell by 27 percent, declining to just over 117,000 — constricting possible readership.

[10] Raivaaja's daily schedule was maintained throughout the 1940s, when the paper began appearing less frequently due to declining circulation and revenue.