While on a quest for revenge, Liver-Eating Johnson earned his gruesome nickname and struck fear into the hearts – and livers – of his enemies.
Montana Historical SocietyJohn Jeremiah Garrison Johnston , nickname Liver - Eating Johnson .
They say he was born John Jeremiah Garrison Johnston , but it ’s a safe stake that almost nobody call him that . The mountain man of the wild Cicily Isabel Fairfield was good know by his moniker , one he realize and then some . Yes , he may have been born John Jeremiah Garrison Johnston , but he died “ Liver - Eating ” Johnson .
Before He Became Liver-Eating Johnson
According to caption , Liver - Eating Johnsonwas born in 1824 in Little York , New Jersey , though he did n’t experience there long . At the dawn of the Mexican - American war , he get out home to draft in the Navy .
However , his stint as a sailor did n’t last long either . After strickle an officer , whether on determination or by stroke , he flee the army and became a apostate . To have the self-confidence off his perfume , he change his name to John Johnson ( dropping the ‘ t ’ ) and moved out west , out from his etymon and from anyone who would be looking for him .
Though he was take flight from those who knew him , it ’s knockout to reckon a man like Liver - Eating Johnson blending in easy . He was about six feet tall and press 260 pounds with scarcely any body fat . He put his considerable size and lastingness to work as a “ woodhawk ” supplying wood for steamboats to shipbuilders .
Montana Historical SocietyJohn Jeremiah Garrison Johnston, nicknamed Liver-Eating Johnson.
While out west in the Alder Gulch territory of Montana , Johnson match his next wife , who was a member of the Flathead Amerind folk . Together , they last in a log cabin that Johnson built himself and his wife presently became pregnant . It seemed that finally , Johnson had a good liveliness cut out for himself .
Then disaster struck .
A Revenge-Driven Journey
Wikimedia CommonsA group of Crow Indians .
Sometime in 1847 , Liver - Eating Johnson ’s married woman was killed .
While he was out one day , a group ofCrow Indianmen assault his nursing home , killing his wife and burning his house to the ground . Blinded by rage , Johnson vow to track down and wipe out each extremity of the Crow tribe in revenge .
Wikimedia CommonsA group of Crow Indians.
Being as well equipped as he was , track down and kill the Crow was easy for Liver - Eating Johnson , not to observe the root of his nickname . Not only did he hound and shoot down the Crow , but he cut out each of the men ’s livers and eat them .
The liver is especially authoritative to the Crow people , as they believed it to be necessary to introduce the hereafter . By taking the liver out and eating them , Liver - Eating Johnson was n’t only savagely ending the Crow ’s lifespan , but their perceived hazard at the hereafter as well .
In all , caption has it that Johnson kill , scalp , and guttle the liver of over 300 Crow Indians . Before long , he was revere amongst all the tribes , not just the Crow , and even the honorable mention of his name caused terror .
YouTubeLiver-Eating Johnson spent 25 years hell-bent on revenge for his wife’s murder.
After His Revenge
YouTubeLiver - Eating Johnson pass 25 year infernal region - bended on revenge for his wife ’s execution .
Rumor has it that while he was on his mission for vengeance , Liver - Eating Johnson was abducted by a group of Blackfoot Amerind warriors who intended to sell him to the Crow .
They stripped him to the waist , tie him up with leather strap , and left him in a tipi with a precaution until they could match up with the Crow . Despite being tie up , Johnson managed to disembarrass himself and escape the teepee . After criticise out the sentry duty , he scalped him and cut off one of his legs before flee into the Grant Wood , where he consumed the guard ’s ramification .
Wikimedia CommonsLiver-Eating Johnson’s grave marker, erected by the 25 seventh graders who pushed for his reinterment.
Miraculously , Johnson meet an old trammel better half of his who helped him get home .
Some 25 years after coiffure out on his seeking for revenge , Liver - Eating Johnson somehow set aside his thirst for roue and made peace with the Crow .
Some historiographer believe that part of their truce could have been due to the ascend fury amongst the clan . Thanks to the imminent menace of war , kinship group were banding together and forming alliances , and Johnson ’s peace could have been a part of that .
Liver-Eating Johnson’s Later Life
After take a leak peace with the Crow , Liver - Eating Johnson finally go on , joining the Company H , 2nd Colorado Cavalry of the Union Army in St. Louis in 1864 before being honorably empty the undermentioned year . After his inspection and repair , he moved to Coulson , Montana and was charge deputy sheriff . by and by he became the town marshall of Red Lodge , Montana .
Over the year he made a living in various slipway , working as a sailor , soldier , Orion , trapper , constructor , gold digger , whiskey drug peddler , and tour guide . finally , he end up in a veteran home in Santa Monica , Calif. and was bury in a Los Angeles veterans cemetery on Jan. 21 , 1900 .
However , the tale of Liver - Eating Johnson did n’t cease there .
In 1974 , a group of 25 7th - graders led a six - month military campaign to have Johnson ’s bodymoved from Los Angeles to Cody , Wyoming .
Wikimedia CommonsLiver - Eating Johnson ’s grave mark , erected by the 25 seventh grader who pushed for his reinterment .
Their campaign was ultimately successful , and the students organise a disinterment and a reinterment ceremony . Actor Robert Redford , who played a fictionalized reading of Liver - Eating Johnson in the movieJeremiah Johnson , even acted as pallbearer for Johnson ’s body during the reinterment .
Today , Liver - Eating Johnson remains in Cody , Wyoming , resting in the big Wild West where he made his living and earned his notable nickname .
After learn about how John Jeremiah Garrison Johnston earned his moniker of Liver - eating Johnson , check outthe chronicle of Buford Pusser , who set out on a celebrated quest for revenge . Then , read aboutPeter Freuchen , the Arctic adventurer who might just be the most interesting man in history .
