John "Liver-Eating" Johnson, born John Jeremiah Garrison Johnston (July 1, 1824 – January 21, 1900), was a
mountain man of the
American Old West.
Biography
Johnson is said to have been born with the last name Garrison, in the area of the Hickory Tavern near
Pattenburg, New Jersey. During the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
he served aboard a fighting ship. After striking an officer, he deserted, changed his name to John Johnston, and traveled west to try his hand at gold digging in
Alder Gulch
Alder Gulch (alternatively called Alder Creek) is a place in the Ruby River valley, in the U.S. state of Montana, where gold was discovered on May 26, 1863, by William Fairweather and a group of men including Barney Hughes, Thomas Cover, Henr ...
,
Montana Territory
The Territory of Montana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1864, until November 8, 1889, when it was admitted as the 41st state in the Union as the state of Montana.
Original boundaries
...
. He also became a "woodhawk," supplying
cord wood to steamboats.
Rumors and legends about Johnson are common. Perhaps chief among them is that in 1847, his wife, a member of the
Flathead American Indian tribe, was killed by a young
Crow
A crow is a bird of the genus '' Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifica ...
brave and his fellow hunters, which prompted Johnson to embark on a vendetta against the tribe. According to historian Andrew Mehane Southerland, "He supposedly killed and
scalped more than 300 Crow Indians and then devoured their livers" to avenge the death of his wife, and "As his reputation and collection of scalps grew, Johnson became an object of fear."
Accounts say that he would cut out and eat the
liver
The liver is a major organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth. In humans, it ...
of each Crow killed.
This led to his being known as "Liver-Eating Johnson". One tale ascribed to Johnson (while other sources ascribe it to
Boone Helm
Levi Boone Helm (January 28, 1828 – January 14, 1864) was an American mountain man, Old West gunfighter and serial killer known as the Kentucky Cannibal. Helm gained his nickname for his opportunistic and unrepentant proclivity for consuming ...
) is that while on a foray of over in the winter to sell whiskey to his Flathead kin, he was ambushed by a group of
Blackfoot warriors. The Blackfoot planned to sell him to the Crow, his mortal enemies. He was stripped to the waist, tied with leather thongs and put in a
teepee
A tipi , often called a lodge in English, is a conical tent, historically made of animal hides or pelts, and in more recent generations of canvas, stretched on a framework of wooden poles. The word is Siouan, and in use in Dakhótiyapi, Lakȟó ...
with one guard. Johnson managed to break through the straps. He then knocked out the guard with a kick, took his knife and scalped him. He escaped into the woods and fled to the cabin of Del Gue, his trapping partner, a journey of about .
Eventually, Johnson made peace with the Crow, who became "his brothers", and his personal vendetta against them finally ended after 25 years and scores of slain Crow warriors. However, the West was still very violent and territorial, particularly during the
Plains Indian Wars of the mid-19th century. Many more Indians of different tribes, especially but not limited to the
Sioux and the Blackfoot, would know the wrath of "Dapiek Absaroka" Crow killer and his fellow mountain men.
![Johnson grave IMG 0308](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Johnson_grave_IMG_0308.JPG)
Johnson joined Company H,
2nd Colorado Cavalry, of the
Union Army
During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...
in
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
in 1864 as a private and was honorably discharged the following year. During the 1880s, he was appointed deputy sheriff in
Coulson, Montana, and a town
marshal in
Red Lodge, Montana
Red Lodge is a city and county seat of Carbon County, Montana, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,257.
History
On September 17, 1851, the United States government signed a treaty with the Crow Nation, cedi ...
. In his time, he was a sailor, scout, soldier, gold seeker, hunter, trapper, woodhawk, whiskey peddler, guide, deputy, constable, and log cabin builder, taking advantage of any source of income-producing labor he could find. His final residence was in a veterans’ home in
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing t ...
, where he died on January 21, 1900. His body was buried in a
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
veterans' cemetery. However, in 1974, after a six-month campaign led by 25 seventh-grade students and their teacher, Johnson's remains were relocated to
Cody, Wyoming
Cody is a city in Northwest Wyoming and the seat of government of Park County, Wyoming, United States. It is named after Colonel William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody for his part in the founding of Cody in 1896.
The population was 10,066 at th ...
. His epitaph reads "No More Trails"
''
Jeremiah Johnson'' is a 1972 film by
Sydney Pollack starring
Robert Redford depicting his life.
References
Further reading
* Jon Axline, "In League with the Devil: Boone Helm and 'Liver-Eatin' Johnston'," in, ''Still Speaking Ill of the Dead: More Jerks in Montana History'', edited by Jon Axline and Jodie Foley. Guilford, Connecticut and Helena, Montana: Two Dot,Globe Pequot Press, 2005.
* Nathan E. Bender, "Perceptions of a Mountain Man: John "Jeremiah Liver-Eating" Johnston at Old Trail Town, Cody, Wyoming." ''The Rocky Mountain Fur Trade Journal'' v.1 (2007): 93-106. Published by Museum of the Mountain Man, Pinedale, Wyoming.
* Nathan E. Bender, "The Abandoned Scout’s Revenge: Origins of the Crow Killer Saga of Liver-Eating Johnson," ''Annals of Wyoming'' v. 78 n. 4 (Autumn 2006): 2-17. Published by the Wyoming State Historical Society.
* Nathan E. Bender, "A Hawken Rifle and Bowie Knife of John ‘Liver-Eating’ Johnson," ''Arms & Armour: Journal of the Royal Armouries'', v. 3 n. 2 (October 2006): 159-170.
* William T. Hamilton, ''Journal of a Mountaineer'' edited by Douglas W. Ellison, Western Edge Book Distributing: Medora, ND, 2010
* Jim Annin, ''They Gazed on the Beartooths'', v. 2 (1964): 225-227
* McLelland, Dennis J., "The Avenging Fury of the Plains: John Liver Eating Johnston,''"'' Infinity Publishing , 2008
* ''Felton & Fowler's Famous Americans You Never Knew Existed'', By Bruce Felton and Mark Fowler, Stein and Day, 1979
* ''The Never-Ending Lives of Liver-Eating Johnson'' by D. J. Herda (2019). TWODOT Books
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Liver-Eating
1824 births
1900 deaths
19th-century sailors
American cannibals
American folklore
American fur traders
American gold prospectors
American hunters
American serial killers
Lawmen of the American Old West
Loggers from Montana
Male serial killers
Montana articles lacking sources
Montana sheriffs
Mountain men
People from Billings, Montana
People from Los Angeles
People from New Jersey
Union Army soldiers
United States Navy personnel of the Mexican–American War