This small one-room cabin was built in 1878 by Norwegian immigrant Carl Bjerke Jensen and his nephew John Bjerke after Carl moved from Minnesota to Dakota Territory with his father, Jens, and brothers, Hans and Ole, earlier that year. The Jensen brothers quickly established homesteads, with Ole on land to the west and Hans farming to the south. The cabin's walls are made of hand-hewn oak cut from the banks of the Sheyenne River, and its foundation is built of local uncut stone. Less weathered sections on the north side show that a lean-to was once added and later removed. Cabins like this began with straight trees with few branches, a stone foundation, and two sill logs supporting the longer walls. Floor joists were set into notches in the sills, and the walls were built course by course, each log hewn to fit the one below to create custom-fit walls. The corner joints were dovetailed, with large beams added between the eighth and ninth log courses on the long side to secure the walls and support a second floor. Notches in the top plate held the roof rafters, and a steep shingled roof was then set in place to shed rain and snow. Such cabins were originally built without siding, though this one later had pressed metal siding. Over the years, the cabin served as a pioneer home, a community hall, a store, and an icehouse.