Log Cabins in Nebraska

Whitwer Site

This weekend I explored a cabin site built by Nicholas Whitwer an immigrant from Rohrbach Switzerland. Mr. Whitwer lived in a dugout for several years until the log cabin was constructed in the early 1870’s. The area the cabin was located in is remote and for the most part untouched by modern agriculture. With the help of the landowner, I was able to locate the cabin foundation (metal stake in the center of the picture is the middle of the cabin) and even found part of one of the oak logs complete with borehole for a wooden pin that held the wall together. The owner also showed me the dugout and well. 

Whitwer cabin after being used as barn

I learned from another resident in the area who is 93 years old (I should say young because he still cuts his own firewood) that the cabin was torn down in late 1940. He was able to save some of the wood and later carved a horse out of it. See the accompanying picture. This old guy is probably one of the most interesting people I have ever met and a wealth of historical knowledge. He remembered playing in the cabin as a kid. He said that the Whitwer’s cut the logs with a pit saw and they were not hewn. He said there was no daubing or chinking that the cabin planks were fit tight.

Horse carved from cabin log

What makes this story so interesting to me is that oak logs were used. There were few trees of any kind this far west in Nebraska, but this location was unique as it had a very large growth of oaks. The area was soon clear cut and the oak logs were used to build a flour mill in both Norfolk and Oakdale Nebraska.  

Contrary to popular belief log structures in early Nebraska was quite common. The first documented log structures in Nebraska were built by James Mackay in 1795. Many more log structures were built for trading posts involved in the fur trade in the state. In 1819 Fort Atkinson was constructed of logs. It was huge, holding around a thousand troops and consisted of many log outbuildings. In 1846 the Mormons built a little over 500 log cabin in the Winter Quarters located north of present-day Omaha. They did most of this in a little over two months!

Sod houses were first made by Mormons at Winter Quarters, but they really did take off until around the 1880’s when most of the good land was taken and most of the trees were cut down. Most photos of sod houses come from the Solomon Butcher Collection. He made over 2000 and his photos saturate history books. It must be pointed out, however, that most of Butchers work contain pictures of sod houses constructed primarily in the area of Custer County Nebraska towards the end of the ninetieth century.