Joseph Olson left Norway with his family in May 1858: his wife Anna Karina, daughter Anna Marie, age 8, and sons Ole Mikkel, age 6, Jacob, age 4, and Torborg, age 1. After 7 weeks at sea they landed in Quebec, Canada, and eventually reached Norman Hill in Bosque County in an oxcart packed with 3 families. In Jacob Olson's memoirs, he recalled that Marie had Texas fever and his parents also became ill during the difficult journey. The family stayed with bachelor Ole Ween for 7 years, with Jacob's mother cooking and washing clothes in return for a room. During that time Joseph Olson acquired 160 acres of land and built a 14 x 15 foot log house, and in the spring of 1867 the family moved into it. Joseph and Anna remained there until they died. Jacob, the second son of Joseph, later inherited the farm and cabin, and the property stayed in family hands until it was sold to Ray Byford. Byford donated the cabin to the Valley Mills Heritage Society after deciding he could not preserve it. The unrestored cabin remained in Valley Mills until 1982, when Mr. and Mrs. D.R. Orbeck arranged to move it back to Clifton. The Bosque Museum accepted the cabin in 1985 and began fundraising to restore it using the same materials and methods Joseph Olson had used in 1866, including a split juniper roof and local live oak and juniper wood to replace rotted exterior logs. The restored house contains pioneer furnishings donated by local families.