[1] Harvard Law School graduate Daniel Bigelow arrived in Olympia in 1851 after crossing the Oregon Trail.

He took up a 160-acre (0.65 km2) Donation Land Claim just east of the new town and built a two-room cabin near an artesian spring overlooking Budd Inlet in South Puget Sound.

The Bigelows were active in many political causes including temperance, women's suffrage and public education.

Over the years many historical figures visited the Bigelows including Snoqualmie headman Patkanim, Suffragette Susan B. Anthony and George Pickett when he was stationed in the territory prior to the American Civil War.

The Bigelow family also retained a life-estate agreement that allowed them to remain in the house for the rest of their lives.