Old World Wisconsin: Norwegian Farm

Ole Fossebrekke immigrated to Wisconsin from Norway. He built a two-story log cabin with no interior walls and a square footprint about twelve feet to a side. Ole grew pumpkins and raised pigs, and trapped animals for their pelts. This must have been enough to do more than merely survive, because at one point, seventeen people spent a winter living in Ole's cabin -- along with the baby pigs that were kept in an interior cradle so they could stay warm throughout the winter. Ole's house must have had a special smell to it indeed by the end of the winter.