The Peter Johnson family left a community near Renville, Minnesota sometime in 1884 to come to the Sheyenne Valley. Loading all of their possessions on a covered wagon pulled by a pair of oxen, they walked the long trail accompanied by two milk cows.
Upon arrival they found that the choice bottom land of the Sheyenne Valley was already taken so they crossed the Sheyenne River and homesteaded a quarter of land in Nelson Township in Section Ten.
The first order of business was to build some sort of living quarters and this they accomplished by digging a dugout in the side of the hill at the edge of the Sheyenne Valley. The front was wood, curbed with rock. The roof was thatched. Here they lived for a number of years until they were financially able to build first a claim shack and later a five gable house, an imposing structure that was a landmark for many years in the Sheyenne Valley.
By dint of hard work, the family prospered and were able to add to their land holdings.
Mrs. Peter Johnson, Mary, had been married before she married Peter Johnson and her children by her former husband were Karina and Even Fredrickson. Born to Peter Johnson and Mary were two children, Carrie and Josie Johnson. Josie passed away at the age of 13.
Martin Evenson, a brother of Mrs. Johnson, worked on the farm.
Both Peter and Mary Johnson lived beyond the age of eighty and outlived all but one of the family. Their daughter Carrie married Matt Anderson and survived her parents. She lived to the age of ninety.
Source: Barnes County History 1976 Page 116