The Avenging Fury of the Plains John Liver Eating Johnston Exploding the Myths Discovering the Man

By Dennis McLelland

The name of John "Liver-Eating" Johnston has all but been forgotten in the dusty archives of the prominent frontiersmen during the mid-to-late nineteenth century. Johnston is little known in our generation, but was a major and noted pioneer in the Old West. A book written in the 1950's by Thorpe and Bunker entitled the Crow Killer provided a fictionalized account of the life of the true mountain man - John Johnston. Similarly, the 1972 movie Jeremiah Johnson, starring actor Robert Redford, introduced the world (albeit inaccurately) to the muted life of one the West's most enigmatic figures. Most people interested in the life of Johnston learned of him principally through the wonderfully-produced movie, Jeremiah Johnson. Sadly, the knowledge they gained of his life through this movie (and the book Crow Killer) was replete with exploits that were never actualized. My book, The Avenging Fury of the Plains, sets the record straight. I have spent eight years researching and writing the biography of John "Liver-Eating" Johnston. The rather bizarre "Liver-Eating" appellation was attached to his name because rumor had it that Johnston ate the livers of the Native Americans he killed in battle. It is also believed that Johnston had a vendetta against the Crow nation for murdering his pregnant wife. This, too, was nothing but fiction.

The true life of John Johnston is much more fascinating than is his fiction. Johnston served in the Civil War; the Indian Wars from 1853 to 1877 in various parts of the country; he was a gold miner; a whaler; whiskey peddler; deputy sheriff of two emerging towns in early Montana during the 1880's to 1890's; and he joined a Wild West Show in 1884 which rivaled Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Johnston was the victim of many physical ailments which eventually led to his death in January of 1900. Born in New Jersey in 1831, his true name was William Garrison. He changed his name to John Johnston when he struck an officer on board ship during the Mexican-American War of 1846-1848. He jumped ship and went AWOL, stepping his feet into San Francisco in about 1848. Johnston was sixty-nine years of age when he died in an old soldiers home in Los Angeles, California. His official cause of death was peritonitis. He is buried in Cody, Wyoming.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dennis McLelland
• Release date: Jan 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005016296

Dennis McLelland

Eleanor Roosevelt wrote "Autobiographies are only useful as the lives you read about and analyze may suggest to you something that you may find useful in your own journey through life." There are no mercies that have not been extended to me by God. This brief biographical text extends from the shadows of eternity past when Almighty God first gave thought to my existence. He placed me in my mother's arms on September 13 1946 in a sterile hospital room in the city of Elizabeth New Jersey. World War II had ended one year earlier, and I was entering an entirely new world in a country that was still free and prosperous. My school years were safe, tranquil and full of various adventures. I thought I was in love twice with girls named Dolly and Pat. But I moved on. College called and I answered its beckoning. I attended a small college in Kentucky, graduated after 5.5 years, and started my life in the field of education. I earned Bachelors, Masters, and Doctoral degrees. It has served me well. I was first published at the age of 14 when I published an article in Teamsters Union newsletter in 1960. I am twice-married, blessed now with a wonderful "soul-mate," if you will. Life is very sweet. I have five children and four grandchildren, all in New Jersey. I have published many articles in the area of Christianity; articles in the field of education; books and articles about the Old West; and three Christian related books, all of which can be accessed online. I spent my working life as a high school guidance counselor, and continue counseling now as a Christian Counselor in Vero Beach Florida. At 74 years of age, my mind is sound and vibrant. I plan to continue writing and publishing - Lord willing.

Book preview

Acknowledgments

First, and foremost, I want to express how important the late Mr. Harry Owens of Red Lodge, Montana, was to me in encouraging me to write my book. Harry was a life-long resident of Red Lodge and was familiar with the truth about Johnston. Harry disclosed a secret, in that Johnston’s real name was John Garrison. Thanks to my wife, Rosie, for her patience; I also want to thank my brother, Gary McLelland, for his assistance and encouragement Finally, I wish to thank God Almighty for his constant reminders that I’m still a work in progress.

Author’s Assurance

The Avenging Fury of the Plains

This book presents the true life of Liver-Eating Johnston, arguably the most enigmatic historical figure of the Old West. The pages within this book reveal the truth about the character, personality, deeds, misdeeds, and brutalities, of alcohol-soaked William [John] Garrison Johnston. Years of research have glaringly displayed the certainty of one thing - the frontier persona of Liver-Eating Johnston was invented. The time has arrived for Johnston to be re-invented, in truth, by dismissing myth and embracing reality.

The material found in this book is authentic. The only exceptions are a few pieces of whimsical poetry. This book does not replicate the fiction found in the book, Crow Killer: The Saga of Liver Eating Johnston, penned by authors Thorpe and Bunker in 1958. Their book bequeathed knighthood upon Johnston, presenting to the world a sainted mountain man, granted permission by the gods to wreak vengeance upon the warriors of satan - the Crow, for killing his imaginary wife and unborn child.

Since Johnston was onboard ship as a sailor during the Mexican War of 1846, the birth of his child during that same time period is moot.

FRIENDS, ACQUAINTENCES & ENEMIES:

SOMETIMES IT’S HARD TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE

Picture 2

Who Is A Friend? Who Is A Foe?

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Author’s Assurance

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

INTRODUCTION

PREFACE

CHAPTER 1 BIRTHING THE LEGEND

CHAPTER 2 FABLES, MYTHS AND QUESTION MARKS

CHAPTER 3 The Silence of the Lion: The Early Years 1824-1862

CHAPTER 4 Dreams In the Rivers: Gold Fever

CHAPTER 5 The Call of Cannons: The Civil War Years

CHAPTER 6 Scraping A Living Under Sitting Bull’s Nose 1865-1876

CHAPTER 7 Liver-Eating Johnston Earns His Name

CHAPTER 8 The Fort Benton Whiskey Peddler 1868-1873

CHAPTER 9 A Country of Broken Character The Great Indian Wars

CHAPTER 10 The Montana Lawman

CHAPTER 11 Crossing the Great Divide The Death of John (Johnston) Garrison January 21, 1900

CHAPTER 12 Returning To Wyoming

CHAPTER 13 A Monument of Honor

PHOTO CREDITS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Cover Johnston at Fort Keogh – 1877

Picture 1 Johnston at 76 years of age

Picture 2 Friends, Acquaintances & Enemies

(Group) John X Beidler

Trophies

Luther Sage Kelly

General Nelson A. Miles

Grant Marsh Calamity Jane

General Samuel Sturgis

General James Blunt

Confederate General

Sterling Price Sioux

Chief Sitting Bull

Sioux Chief Red Cloud

Nez Perce Chief Joseph

Picture 3 Johnston in His 60’s

Picture 4 Liver-Eating Johnston’s Spenser Rifle

Picture 5 Cherokee Confederate General Stand Watie

Picture 6 Cherokee Pro Union Supporter John Ross

Picture 7 Fort Laramie’s Old Bedlam

Picture 8 Ute Sub-Chief Captain Jack

Picture 9 Mariano Medina Picture

10 African American Troops in Benton Barracks

Picture 11 Captain William Fetterman

Picture 12 Gold Prospectors-Frederic Remington

Picture 13 Bannack, Montana

Picture 14 John X Beidler’s Gun Set

Picture 15 Vigilante Hanging

Picture 16 Benton Barracks, St. Louis

Picture 17 Civil War Dead

Picture 18 Wild Bill Hickok – (James Butler Hickok)

Picture 19 Confederate General Sterling Pap Price

Picture 20 Union General James Blunt

Picture 21 Telescoped Sharps Rifle

Picture 22 John X Beidler in a Younger Man’s Clothes

Picture 23 John X Beidler

Picture 24 Grant Marsh

Picture 25 Decapitating Sioux Foe

Picture 26 Thomas McGirl Picture

27 Uncle Billy Hamilton

Picture 28 Fort Whoop Up

Picture 29 General Nelson A. Miles

Picture 30 Luther S. Yellowstone Kelly

Picture 31 A Cheyenne Scalping

Picture 32 General Oliver O. Howard

Picture 33 General Samuel Sturgis

Picture 34 Yellowstone Scout J.M.V Cochran

Picture 35 John Johnston at Age 58

Picture 36 Coulson, Montana Territory – 1882

Picture 37 John Johnston in 1882

Picture 38 W.H. Muggins Taylor – Indian Scout

Picture 39 Bogus Picture of Liver-Eating Johnston

Picture 40 Sword Bearer – Crow Medicine Man

Picture 41 Sword Bearer Makes The News

Picture 42 William F. Cody, a.k.a. Buffalo Bill

Picture 43 Johnston Obituary Picture

Picture 44 Johnston Certificate of Death

Picture 45 The Great Rocky Mountains

Picture 46 What Wisdom Is There Greater Than Kindness

Picture 47 Signatures of John Johnston

Picture 48 Liver-Eating Johnston’s Last Trail

Chronological Timeline of Johnston’s Known Activities

July 1824………………………………...Born near Little York, New Jersey

38 – 1846 (approx) ……………………...Serves on Whaling Ship/Schooner

46 – 1848...................................................Serves as sailor during Mexican War

48 – 1858 (approx)…................................Possibly remains in Navy or on a Merchant Ship

58 – 1861...................................................Roams the West/Northwest

62 – 1864..................................................Enters Montana - Miner, Trapper, Indian Fighter,

Teamster (Wagon Master)

February 1864 – Sept. 1865.....................Scout, Union Army during Civil War

65 – 1867.................................................Teamster – Diamond R Freight Co.

67 – 1868.................................................Woodhawk (wood cutter) with partner Sims;

earns infamous name of Liver Eater

at Fort Hawley, Montana

Territory, during Sioux battle.

68 – 1871 .................................................Woodhawk with pal X Beidler".

69 – 1872 .................................................Whiskey Peddler at Fort Hamilton,

Lethbridge, Alberta Canada

72 – 1874 .................................................Whiskey Peddler at Fort Spitzee,

Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

74 – 1875 .................................................U.S. Government Guide/ Involved in

Sioux attack at Fort Pease.

76 – 1877..................................................Scouts during Indian Wars against

Sitting Bull, et.al.

77 – 1881..................................................Maintains Stage Coach Line/

shoots at Passenger on board

Oregon Short Line Train/ Wolfer-Trader.

Dec. 1881..................................................Serves as Justice of the Peace –

Custer County, Montana Territory.

Nov. 1882 – 1884………………………..Serves as Deputy Sheriff – Coulson &

Billings, Montana Territory.

April – August 1884……………………..Tours with Hardwick’s Wild West Show.

Billed as The Avenging Fury of the Plains.

85 – 1886 ……………………………..Guide for Tourist Trade October 1887 Crow

uprising threat in Billings, Montana Territory

87 – 1888……………………………...Raises Cabbage on his island on

the Yellowstone River.

88 – 1895………………………………Hired as Constable in Red Lodge, Montana Territory

Nov. 1895……………………………..Tours Tombstone, Arizona

Dec. 1899…………………………….. Leaves Red Lodge for Veterans Hospital (dying)

Jan. 1900………………………………Liver Eating Johnston dies in Los Angeles

Veterans Hospital

June 1974……………………………...Johnston’s body re-interred to Wyoming

Picture 3

John Johnston during his early sixties (1885/1886)

INTRODUCTION

Go to Google. Click on Images. Key in the words

"eating liver."

The reader will discover several references to

John Liver-Eating Johnston within the first ten pages

of the search!

Intriguing. One would never imagine that searching for a simple reference to consuming liver would display photos of a human being. But such was, and is, the reputation of a vaunted mountain man who, indeed, never ate anyone’s liver!

Then why the name Liver Eating? Here is the true story. Johnston earned his macabre name during a battle with Sioux Indians in 1868. Some researchers think the year of the battle was in 1869, or even 1870. None of that matters because Johnston himself stated that the attack took place in 1868.

The Sioux attacked Johnston and about 15 other woodcutters as the men were cautiously cutting cords of wood on Sioux land to fuel passing steamboats. Toward the end of the battle, Johnston thrust his knife into a Sioux warrior’s side. When he withdrew his knife, a bit of liver remained attached to the knife.

As a joke, Johnston then held up the piece of liver to his friends and asked them if they "wanted a "chaw’. Johnston pretended to eat the piece of liver. Hence, the birth of the nickname, Liver-Eating" Johnston.

The reader may be aware that John Liver-Eating Johnston was the subject of the 1970’s hit movie, Jeremiah Johnson, starring Robert Redford. I, too, saw the movie and was captivated by the exploits of the movie’s protagonist, and I was determined to learn more about this fascinating wilderness icon.

I want to again reassure the reader that everything he/she reads in The Avenging Fury of the Plains is based upon established fact. There is no continuation of the fairy tales spun by Thorpe and Bunker in The Crow Killer: The Saga of Liver-Eating Johnson. Nor is there any mention of the fiction of Vardis Fisher and his book, The Mountain Man, the contents of which also helped to contaminate the true Johnston story.

Sources of Research Materials

All sources used to uncover information about Johnston were culled from principally four sources:

1. Government, military, and pension records.

2. Anecdotal recollections of Johnston as recorded by military officers

under whom Johnston served as scout during the Indian Wars of 1876-1877.

3. Remembrances of Johnston by acquaintances and friends and

4. Personal interviews from newspaper reporters.

It is indeed difficult to flesh out a full, comprehensive, biography about Liver-Eating Johnston. There are too many holes in his personal history. Thus, this book will offer the reader a chronological rendering of many of the known, significant, life events, that will give readers an excellent picture of who John Johnston truly was in the early west.

Wild Bill Hickok Author Shared Similar Challenge

Joseph G. Rosa, author of Wild Bill Hickok: The Man & His Myth (University Press of Kansas, 1996) related a similar dilemma when he wrote, that in many instances I did unearth new materials, confound legends, and clarify events...that had been a mystery. But there are still gaps, many of them unlikely ever to be filled, for no one can hope to learn everything about another person, least of all a highly controversial historical character.

Johnston – The Old Man

That Johnston lived to reach 69 years of age [1831-1900] was a phenomenal accomplishment. During his prime, he had the reputation of being in more Indian battles than anyone of his day. It was said that Johnston had taken over 1,200 scalps over his frontier career. This author does not think it an exaggeration. Johnston’s confidence in his abilities, his incomparable woodland skills, his bravado, and his utter disdain for his numberless Indian foe, propelled him to greatness among mountain men, and made him a legitimate object of fear and awesome respect to Indians.

Johnston Helped To Open The West.

As the reader will observe in this book, Johnston had an inordinate amount of flaws. Yes, he was vicious. He was, most certainly, unrepentant. In truth, it was as easy for him to pick off an Indian riding his pony five hundred yards from his telescoped Sharps Buffalo rifle as it was shooting an antelope taking drink from the waters of a cool stream.

Despite his barbarism (as the reader will soon discover), Johnston nevertheless played a role in the opening of the American west. He served as a scout with the 2nd Colorado Cavalry Volunteers for the Union Army. During the great Indian Wars of 1876-1877, Johnston similarly served as a contract scout for General Nelson A. Miles, General Samuel Sturgis, and many other top-level officers.

An interesting side note is that Johnston served with Chief-of-Scouts Luther Yellowstone Kelly under the command of General Miles. On occasion, Johnston, too, took the reins of Chief-of-Scouts, and was highly touted by superiors as he vigorously discharged his duties.

As vicious as Johnston was in his battles with the Sioux, Blackfeet, and Cheyenne, his associations with the white race was equally remarkable. His brittle character was at the mercy of alcohol.

He was often made a laughing-stock at camps and towns, often falling into the hands of people who easily took advantage of him. He was sullen, isolated, and anti-social. He rarely got into scrapes with whites, unless they pushed him too far. But pity the fool who similarly took Johnston for a fool.

PREFACE

"The Avenging Fury of the Plains, John ‘Liver-Eating’ Johnston, Exploding the Myths –Discovering the Man, presents a factual, heavily referenced, honest representation of the many known facts about Johnston’s life. Where there are gaps in the Johnston timeline, authoritative speculation is offered to flesh-out Johnston’s biographical skeleton." The reader is now aware that the so-called biography, Crow Killer: The Saga of Liver Eating Johnson, by authors’ Raymond W. Thorpe and Robert Bunker, (upon which Johnston’s bloated reputation was created) is classified under the genre of historical fiction.

When exposed against the true mirror of historical fact as detailed in my new Johnston biography, Thorpe and Bunkers’ Crow Killer turns out to be a compilation of purposeful untruths, historical manipulations, and grossly inaccurate research. It is, after all, historical fiction.

It is obvious that Thorpe and Bunkers’ conscious efforts to create their own historical facts about the life of Johnston, were meant simply to entertain the reader. It is also obvious that Thorpe and Bunker probably reasoned that since they were in sole possession of the purported facts about Johnston’s life, that they would not be challenged and could freely employ creative license in the development of their myth.

Regardless of Thorpe and Bunkers’ motivations, the true facts about the life and frontier experiences of Liver-Eating Johnston are now presented in The Avenging Fury of the Plains: John Liver-Eating Johnston. The reader will be able to form an accurate impression of who Johnston was, for he is presented in his entire frontier prowess.

The wilderness experiences and exploits of John Johnston (a.k.a. William [John] Garrison) were perhaps as impressive as were those of Jim Bridger and Kit Carson. Yet Johnston never achieved their level of fame and notoriety. This was apparently by design because he never purposefully sought the spotlight except but for one time - when he decided to join the Hardwick’s Great Rocky Mountain Wild West Show in 1884 where he was billed (most appropriately) as The Avenging Fury of The Plains.

Johnston sought no glory except in the delight he took at running a knife over the throat of his Indian foe. Granted, he was clearly the master of a thousand woodland skills. No one could control his limitless avenging fury but himself. Fresh scars judged his wilderness deeds and multitudes of bloodied scalps; proud trophies of countless combat victories.

No Buckskin Hero

Johnston was no buckskin hero, yet he remains a most fascinating frontier character. He slid easily from friend to Jack the Ripper. He was a man capable of extending an occasional kindness and, later that day, exacting extreme violence. Because the mountains knew no laws, Johnston’s early years were lived without restraint; unencumbered by the rituals, expectations, laws and mores of flatlander mentality.

Johnston’s pathology grew in this vacuum. Yet it seems that there were traces of a conscience, albeit housed deep within the scarred-over realities of his wilderness life; perhaps a good thing in the face of extraordinary minute-by-minute dangers that was Johnston’s life.

John Johnston possessed an amazing array of frontier skills and a remarkable gift for survival. His death at age 69 is proof of his wilderness abilities. His confidence in his marksmanship, his incredible strength, and his seemingly untiring energy levels, propelled him among the top ranks of the estimated three thousand or so mountain men who plied their pelts in the early west.

This famed U.S. Army scout of the 1876-1877 Indian Wars spent most of his adult life in the wilderness. His life as a free trapper allowed him to live in the lap of the mountains, near beaver streams for quick access to his traps, near rifle and pistol and butcher knife in preparation for inevitable Sioux or Blackfoot raiding parties.

Johnston preferred his own company. Yet, he spent much time living with the Crow, undoubtedly bedding down with a squaw or two, throughout his life. He was said to have accompanied the Crow on their raids with the Sioux and Cheyenne.

As was earlier mentioned, Johnston seemed to be truly fearless throughout his life. Fearlessness seems to be a quality inherent within all great old west figures. Some of the notables like Wild Bill Hickok, Wyatt Earp, General George Armstrong Custer, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, etc., all seemingly possessed an absence of fear, a vital characteristic that helped to grow their reputations.

Some Important Considerations

This book will detail a myriad of facts about the exploits of Johnston. It will delight most, and perhaps sadden others. Some fans will view this book as breaking up the romance they enjoyed with the Johnston myth. This is quite understandable. But it is important that the truth be made available to those who want to know the truth.

Conversely, to the reader with little or nor familiarity with the name of Liver-Eating Johnston, this book will serve to produce an accurate reality about his true life. Also, it would serve the reader well if he/she takes time to read the Crow Killer and perhaps even view that 1972 movie that started it all - Jeremiah Johnson (starring Robert Redford)

To those die-hard fans familiar with the exploits of Liver-Eating Johnston, there are many so-called facts that seem to be simply a given. Many believe that Johnston had a vendetta against the Crow – he didn’t. Some swear that Johnston’s lifetime buddy, according to the Crow Killer, was a rough character named Del Gue – he wasn’t. It seemed that old’ Liver-Eatin’ Johnston needed a sidekick, so a colorful, cartoonish character was assigned to him in the Crow Killer book.

The Myth That Built Johnston’s Reputation Never

Happened!

Remember the bottom line: Liver-Eating Johnston was a sailor on board ship prior to, and during, the Mexican War of 1846, when the Crow supposedly killed a pregnant squaw to whom Johnston was supposedly married.

Johnston vs. the Crow Nation

During the brutal winters, Johnston frequently lived among the Crow. In actuality, the Crow were fervent allies to both Johnston and the white race despite the errant fables spun by Thorpe and Bunker in their novel, The Crow Killer.

Johnston stated time and time again that he was involved in over forty fights with the Indians from California to the Gulf of Mexico. Never was the Crow nation involved. Why Thorpe and Bunker chose the Crow Nation to pick on for the supposed vendetta with Johnston is a great mystery.

Why not select the Blackfeet, Sioux, or Cheyenne, with whom Johnston was in constant conflict from 1866 to 1877. Regardless of their reasoning, the authors purposefully wove at least fifteen separate fables into their novel, all of which the reader will soon be able to personally examine in Chapter One.

A Biography for the Ages

The Avenging Fury of the Plains: John Liver-Eating Johnston," was written primarily for three audiences: readers that have little or no familiarity with Liver-Eating Johnston; those who have varying degrees of knowledge concerning the life and times of this most enigmatic frontier character; and those who are serious students of the life of the fabled frontiersman.

Accomplishing these goals required an investment in time and energy that, in turn, produced a proportional desire to learn the truth about