John B. Didier II was born in France on December 25, 1827, to John and Anna B. Didier, came to America that year, settled in Cincinnati, moved to St. Louis in 1849 and worked for Pierre Chateau Jr., then in 1852 oversaw a fur trading post five miles below Fort Laramie, Wyoming. On August 19, 1854, he experienced and survived the Grattan Massacre, in which all of the soldiers were killed, and he reported the battle and loss to Mr. Chateau. In 1854 he came to Nebraska, erected a log cabin in what is now Richardson County about ten and one-half miles south of Brownville, and lived there for 63 years; records indicate he was the second white settler in that area. In 1855 he married Mary Peneaux Beauvais Red Nose Didier Desera in Brownville by Judge Whitney, and most of their children lived in the cabin. Mary, who was born in 1831 to William Louis Peneaux and Tapankeska Mazawin and was enrolled in the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, had previously married Beauvais and had four children, then married Howard Red Iron and had three children, and with John B. Didier II had eight children. She died on June 26, 1901, and was buried at St. Francis Indian School in South Dakota. John died on September 27, 1918, and was buried at Barada, Nebraska. The original 1854 cabin was built of whole logs running the length of the structure, seven logs high with dovetailed corners, with logs 8 to 15 inches in diameter and chinked, a large limestone foundation, a loft measuring 7 by 15 feet, a main room measuring 15 by 15 feet that served as bedroom, sitting room, and dining area, and a porch measuring 7 by 15 feet that probably served as a summer kitchen.