Legends of the Old West - MOUNTAIN MEN Ep. 5 | “Jeremiah Johnson: Myth and Legend”

Episode Date: October 9, 2024

The story of the man who is known as Jeremiah Johnson is shrouded in mystery. In this episode, the character of John Johnson joins the ranks of mountain men in the 1840s and soon embarks on an epic campaign of vengeance against Crow warriors. The mythical figure earns the nicknames “Crow Killer” and “Liver Eating Johnson” while he travels the West and experiences a superhuman number of adventures.   Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join   Apple users join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes, bingeable seasons and bonus episodes. Click the Black Barrel+ banner on Apple to get started with a 3-day free trial.   On YouTube, subscribe to LEGENDS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: hit “Join” on the Legends YouTube homepage.   For more details, visit our website www.blackbarrelmedia.com and check out our social media pages. We’re @OldWestPodcast on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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mornings with juicy, savory deliciousness, only at A&W. Warning. This episode contains moments of graphic violence that some may find disturbing. at A&W. Over the years, few legends of the American West have been requested as many times as the story of Jeremiah Johnson, a man who, in truth, never existed. The movie Jeremiah Johnson, starring Robert Redford and directed by Sidney Pollock, is adapted from the novel Mountain Man, a novel of male and female in the early American West by Vardis Fisher. His novel was, in turn, inspired by the account of John Johnson's life penned by Raymond Thorpe and Robert Bunker titled Crow Killer. Presented as a nonfiction biography of John Johnson, Crow Killer is

closer to what we would now call historical fiction. It began with Raymond Thorpe, whose primary sources were a 90-year-old trapper known as White Eye Anderson and a Wild West showman named Doc Carver. Carver, a one-time partner and lifelong rival of Buffalo Bill Cody, persuaded Thorpe to write his own largely fictionalized biography, and connected Thorpe to White Eyed Anderson. The old trapper claimed to have heard stories of Johnson from Johnson's partner, Del Gue. But the historical record reveals no trace of a Del Gue in the American West during that

time. That isn't conclusive proof that he didn't exist. Lots of people changed their names when they went West. But it's impossible to know who the man really was. And when it's added to Anderson's other claims, it becomes more dubious. Beyond the Crow Killer book, the only other mention of Dale Gew appears in White Eye Anderson's own book. In that book, Anderson claimed to have heard the shot that killed Wild Bill Hickok, helped bury him, and was with Johnson at the side of Texas Jack O'Mahundro when Texas Jack died in Leadville, Colorado. There's no historical evidence to support any of those claims,

so all of White Eye Anderson's accounts have to be taken with a healthy measure of salt. But after meeting Carver and Anderson and hearing their stories, Raymond Thorpe wrote a rough draft of Johnson's story. He sent the draft and his extensive notes to Bunker. But Thorpe and Bunker never met, and they never talked about the book. Bunker ignored Thorpe's draft and notes and wrote his own version of the story, which became the final book. In the introduction to the modern edition of Crow Killer, historian Nathan Bender at the Buffalo Bill Cody Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming notes that the authors, quote, intentionally created a mythic American saga

under the guise of passing on legitimate oral traditions of a historical frontiersman. It's a fancy way of saying, more than likely, very little of the original Crow Killer book is true. It's closer to what we would call a collection of campfire stories today. To unravel the mystery of the man most people know as Jeremiah Johnson, we're going to have fun with this two-part series. The next episode will present the true story, to the extent that it's known, of the man who was probably born John Johnston.

But first, this episode will present the legend of the crow killer, liver-eating Johnson, known as John Johnson in his own time and often called Jeremiah Johnson today. Virtually none of the legend can be supported by any kind of historical documentation, and much of it was later disputed by the hero of the story. But it is entertaining. From Black Barrel Media, this is an American Frontier series on Legends of the Old West. I'm your host, Chris Wimmer, and this season we're beginning regular stories of the earliest days of American expansion across the continent.

In this series, we'll focus on the lives and legends of mountain men Jedidiah Smith, Hugh Glass, and Jeremiah Johnson. This is Episode 5, Jeremiah Johnson, Myth and Legend. In the legend, the man most people call Jeremiah Johnson today was known as John Johnson. He didn't eat liver because he was hungry. He didn't murder members of the Crow Nation, scalp them and expertly cut out their livers with his bowie knife, and then eat them raw in order to survive. He did it on principle. He did it for revenge. The Crow had killed his wife, a beautiful woman called the Swan from the Flathead Tribe. Johnson had been away from home, trapping Beaver on the Yellowstone River.

When he returned, he found his cabin cold, his wife dead on the floor, and signs that she had been carrying his unborn child. That day, Johnson swore a blood oath. He would kill as many crow as he could, wherever he could find them. The crow didn't know Johnson's name when they committed the violent act that set him on his righteous path, but they soon called him by a name that translated to crow killer. Later, they learned he removed the livers of the crow men he killed. In the crow tradition, the liver was tied to a person's soul.

Removing the liver was like stealing the soul. That's when they started calling him by a different name, the liver was tied to a person's soul. Removing the liver was like stealing the soul. That's when they started calling him by a different name, the liver eater. Johnson became a living legend. His story was told around campfires by hunters, traders, and mountain men of the West. But every good legend has to start somewhere, and this one started in the fall of 1843. A steamer docked in St. Joseph, Missouri, and John Johnson, 19 or 20 years old, stepped off. He was a powerful and imposing figure with auburn hair, and he immediately confronted, fought and defeated a thief who attempted to steal his belongings. longings.

After besting the thief, John Johnson walked to the store of Joe Robidoux, a notorious trader. Johnson presented a note from the Hawken brothers of St. Louis requesting one of their finest rifles along with traps, a Comanche pony, and a Comanche saddle. Robidoux sold Johnson overpriced goods, but he did include a free tomahawk. The next morning, Johnson headed for the Big Blue River in Kansas to trap Beaver. He then worked his way north toward the Platte, and along the way, he met Old John Hatcher. Old

John was a seasoned mountain man who took Johnson under his wing after recognizing the young man's potential, despite the fact that Johnson was trying to trap in streams that had been emptied decades earlier. Hatcher taught Johnson the ways of the wilderness, including trapping, combat, and survival tactics. Soon enough, Johnson had his first fight with Native Americans. Hatcher and Johnson were surprised by a dozen Arapaho warriors. Johnson was hit by an arrow in the right shoulder but managed to shoot one of the warriors with his Hawken rifle. Hatcher

shot two others before the remaining warriors retreated. Hatcher removed the arrow from Johnson's shoulder before showing him how to properly scout the Arapaho warrior he had killed. As they trapped and hunted, Hatcher's mentorship shaped Johnson into a formidable figure who was known for his strength and cunning. They pressed on toward the mountains, with Hatcher imparting crucial survival wisdom and solidifying Johnson's transformation from a novice greenhorn to a seasoned trapper and mountain man. When John Johnson ventured into the mountains with Old Hatcher, beaver populations were depleted, forcing the trappers to hunt bear and mink. Johnson developed unique tactics

such as his swift, powerful kicks and keen sense of smell. Johnson's learning was practical and intense. When a full-grown grizzly bear surprised Hatcher, who shot and wounded it, Johnson raised his own rifle and fired, but the bear kept charging. Johnson grabbed his bowie knife and thrust the blade into the bear's heart. The stab didn't kill the bear, but it ran away. Johnson rushed to help Hatcher.

Hatcher commented that it was a clever move to leave the knife in the bear so it would bleed out. Johnson replied with a measure of modesty. There wasn't no time to pull out the knife. Johnson lived in Hatcher's cabin near a camp in the Little Snake Valley in Wyoming and met other seasoned trappers, gaining wisdom and witnessing the harsh realities of frontier life. Johnson formed close bonds with figures like Bear Claw Chris Lapp, despite the man's surly reputation. Johnson's physical prowess grew, earning him respect and fear. Soon, John Johnson became the law in the camp. He maintained order with ruthless efficiency, often using his strength to quell

disputes between mountain men. His heightened senses and natural suspicion kept him vigilant, making him an exceptional manhunter. His survival depended on his ability to detect and confront danger, and no mountain man was more keenly focused than John Johnson. As a podcast network, our first priority has always been audio and the stories we're able to share with you. But at Realm, we also sell some pretty cool merch, and organizing that was made both possible and easy with Shopify. When you think about successful businesses like Allo or Allbirds or Skims, an often overlooked

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In the early days of his trapping career, John Johnson set up a wood yard near Musselshell River in Montana selling cordwood to Missouri River steamboats. In the summer of 1846, he and a man called Bigfoot Davis set out on an extended trading venture with the Flathead tribe. As they spent time with the tribe, the chief offered his daughter in marriage to Johnson, who was flattered but refused the offer. Johnson and Davis finished their trip and parted ways, with Davis taking their furs to market and Johnson heading south. On the trip south, Johnson encountered a tragedy involving the Morgan family. John Morgan and his family had split off from their wagon

train and gone out into the frontier by themselves. One evening, John Morgan left the family campsite to go tie up the oxen. When he didn't come back, his two sons and their sister went out to look for him. Mrs. Morgan waited alone for a while, but as she grew more anxious, she grabbed an axe and headed to the spot where the oxen had been grazing. There she found her husband, scalped, unconscious, and tied to a sycamore tree. Her sons were dead and scalped, and her daughter was dead on the ground. A dozen Blackfeet warriors surrounded Mrs. Morgan. Driven mad by grief, Mrs. Morgan flew into a rage and killed four of the warriors with her axe. The rest fled from her ferocity. John Johnson arrived shortly afterward.

He helped Mrs. Morgan bury her family, then he built her a cabin, and Mrs. Morgan turned out to be a pretty dark character. When her cabin was finished, she mounted the heads of the four warriors she had killed on the four corners of her new home. She stayed there and became known as Crazy Woman, a figure who was feared and respected. The Blackfeet refused to go into the nearby mountains as long as she lived, and that's one of the legends of how a small mountain range, a canyon, a creek, and now a modern road outside Buffalo, Wyoming, all bear the name Crazy Woman.

John Johnson continued his trapping but felt lonely after his partner Hatcher left for Santa Fe, New Mexico. He began a trapping partnership with the mysterious man called Del Gue in the winter of 1846. Johnson and Gue learned from visitors that the crazy woman story of Mrs. Morgan had become legendary. Johnson continued to visit her, taking her meat and other supplies when he could. In the spring of 1847, John Johnson and Del Gue decided to divide and conquer. Del took their winter furs to Fort Laramie, while Johnson journeyed back to the Flathead tribe near the Wind River Range. Johnson arrived at the Flathead camp in May of 1847.

After days of gift-giving, Johnson formally requested to marry the daughter of Chief Bearshead. She was the beautiful maiden known as the Swan. The Chief deliberated for three days before presenting Johnson with his trade terms. The Chief's daughter would cost one rifle, two knives, and a good supply of salt and sugar. A week of ceremonies later, Johnson and his new wife, the Swan,

left the Flathead camp and set out for his home on the Musselshell. Johnson learned his wife's language while he prepared his cabin for the winter, ensuring the Swans' comfort before leaving for an extended trading and trapping trip. When they said goodbye, it was the last time he saw her alive. The trip was more profitable than Johnson could have anticipated. His pack animals were loaded with furs as he made his way back to the little cabin on the mussel shell.

As the cabin came into sight, Johnson noticed there was no smoke rising from the chimney and he had an uneasy feeling. Abandoning his pack animals, he cocked his Hawken rifle and crept toward his home. Everything was still and silent until a vulture took flight as he approached. On the rock floor of the cabin was the skull of his wife, and there was another, smaller skull nearby. The swan was dead, as was the unborn child he hadn't even known about. Johnson stepped out of the cabin and scanned the area. He found an old trail in the dirt and followed it to where horses had been tied to a tree. There were still

remnants of war paint at the spot, and he recognized the paint as the kind used by crow warriors. He gathered the bones from the house, placed them in a kettle, and hid them in a secure spot before covering his own tracks and heading up into the mountains. There at midnight, John Johnson swore an oath to avenge the swan by killing the Crow warriors who were responsible for her death. By the next year, 1848, stories of John Johnson's gruesome attacks on Crow Warriors began spreading across the West. The bodies of dead Crow Warriors were found scalped and dismembered. Among the mountain men and trappers, Del Gui, Bearlaw, Chris Lapp, and Bigfoot Davis, confirmed that Johnson was also eating the livers of the dead.

Other mountain men began calling him liver-eating Johnson, though few knew that he had been married and that the motive for his vendetta was the murder of his wife. Johnson's actions quickly became legendary as his story spread across the West, with 49ers passing tales of the Crow Killer as they traveled to California. Mountain men turned his story into an epic, while settlers and soldiers' families turned it into a ghost story for their children. If they didn't eat all their food or mind their parents, liver-eating Johnson would come after them.

His fearsome reputation grew, marked by his distinctive appearance, a giant of a man with a great red beard and cold gray eyes. When Johnson traded at posts like Fort Laramie, he now carried crow scalps along with high-quality furs. By 1851, four years into his vendetta, his equipment included a Hawken rifle, a Colt Walker revolver, and a Bowie knife, all of which he used to deadly effect against the Crow. The chief of the Western Band of Crow, Big Robert, sent 50 Crow warriors to trade horses with the flathead. Johnson waited for the right moment, and at Beaverhead River,

he struck. Silently approaching their camp at night, he found that the crow had left their best warrior as a sentry. Johnson hefted a large rock and threw it at the warrior's head. The man dropped without a noise, and Johnson carried him away from camp before returning to scatter the crow horses. As chaos erupted in the crow camp, Johnson scalped the unconscious sentry. When he did, he noticed a scalp on the warrior's belt. Touching the long, dark hair, Johnson knew at once that the warrior was the man who had killed his wife. Consumed by rage, he cut the warrior's side with his bowie knife, plunged his hands into the wound,

yanked out the warrior's liver, and ate it to fulfill his oath. Riding away with the scalp, Johnson knew his vengeance was not complete. He had killed the man who had killed his wife, but he knew others were out there somewhere, and he promised they would feel his wrath. Having scattered the crow horses, he set out to alert the flathead, whom he knew would join him in avenging the swan's death. Johnson traveled tirelessly to reach the flathead. Arriving exhausted, he negotiated with Chief Bearshead and presented the scalp of the swan's killer. Bearshead, recognizing the importance of the matter, prepared his warriors for the impending crow arrival.

Johnson, now riding a new black stallion, departed to meet his friend, the chief of the northern Shoshone. On his way, he encountered two Shoshone warriors who carried flathead scalps, which indicated a Shoshone alliance with the Crow. Upon approaching the Shoshone chief, Johnson explained the situation. When the chief understood that his allies, the Crow, had murdered Johnson's wife and now two of his warriors had killed members of the wife's tribe, he did not want to risk angering the famous liver-eater. The chief had the two Shoshone warriors executed. Johnson returned to his wife's people and presented

the scalps to Bearshead. Johnson had returned with enough time for the chief to rally his warriors and set up an ambush for the party of Crow who were on the way. The Flathead warriors launched their attack and a fierce battle exploded. Most of the Crow were killed, but the Flathead suffered significant losses as well. Sixty warriors died in the fight, and the battle added another layer to John Johnson's legend. His fearsome appearance, with his red beard and gray eyes, became synonymous with danger and death. His tradition of eating livers added psychological terror to physical fear, making him a figure of nightmares for crow warriors. After the recent battle, Johnson took spoils of war from the Crow and returned to his cabin.

He now had 36 Crow scalps and he planned to live quietly through the winter. But he had just fought the second phase of a war, and now it was the Crow's turn to retaliate. At Wealthsimple, we're built for whatever you're building. Built for Jane, who wants to break into the housing market. We're built for Ted, who's obsessed with what's happening in the global markets. And built for Celine, who just wants to retire and explore the world's flea markets. So take a moment and think about what you're building for.

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Visit Speedy.com for full contest details and don't miss out on this chance to stay safe and prepared this winter. The Crow were deeply humiliated by the recent attacks. Their chief, Big Robert, called a council to address the threat posed by Johnson. The chief rejected a mass attack as impractical. Instead, he proposed sending individual warriors to hunt Johnson. According to the legend, Johnson killed 19 Crow warriors over some period of time. Fellow mountain men supposedly witnessed two of the killings, but everyone repeated the

common refrain that Johnson scalped his victims and ate their livers. Johnson himself preferred not to speak of the details, sharing only that each warrior was killed in hand-to-hand combat. Johnson was surprised by the newfound respect and desire for friendship from other trappers and mountain men, but he welcomed the change. He began visiting camps and sharing news, though he reserved his personal story for his close friends, like Bearclaw Chris Lapp, Bigfoot Davis, and Del Gue. In 1855, Johnson and Del Gue reunited, primarily to help Del recover financially after a rough year.

As they set off to trap, they visited Mrs. Morgan, where Dell noticed that the skulls from the warrior she had killed had been replaced with new ones, hinting that Johnson had donated them from his kills. While the trappers camped along a creek near the Musselshell River, they encountered a crow warrior. Johnson quickly and efficiently killed the warrior and, according to Dell Gew, ate the liver despite Dell's protests. In the early fall of 1861, Johnson helped Dell establish a winter trapping camp east of the

Continental Divide. Johnson planned to trade with the Flathead tribe in the Bitterroot Mountains. On his journey, Blackfeet warriors and their chief, the wolf, ambushed and captured Johnson. They intended to trade him to the crow. They stripped him and bound his hands, and they stationed a young warrior to guard him. Using his teeth to loosen his bonds, Johnson waited for the right moment. When the guard drank whiskey, Johnson attacked. He kicked the young man so hard that the warrior fell to the ground unconscious. Johnson seized the guard's knife, scalped him, and then swiftly cut and twisted the guard's left leg off at the hip.

Remarkably, he performed the gruesome task with such skill that the guard remained alive during the entire ordeal. Johnson took the warrior's leg with him, presumably to use as food. Facing bitter winter, cold, and snow, Johnson traveled slowly and avoided the Blackfeet. He had to fight off a mountain lion that tried to steal the frozen leg, and later used the feet. He had to fight off a mountain lion that tried to steal the frozen leg, and later used the leg as a club to fight off a grizzly bear. After an arduous journey, Johnson reached Dell's camp. Johnson was emaciated, and he carried a partially eaten leg, but he greeted Dell with a grin. Johnson asked Dell if he

had any fresh meat to share. Dell Gew took the winter's furs to Fort Laramie and shared the story of Johnson's encounter with the Blackfeet, including, of course, the leg. Johnson didn't want Dell to tell the story, but there was no holding it back, and now it was added to the lore of John Johnson. A rendezvous was set near Virginia City, Montana, where 40 seasoned trappers gathered. They were heavily armed and ready for revenge against the Blackfeet for capturing Johnson. When Johnson joined them, he informed them of the location of the Blackfeet who had attacked him. He led the trappers to the Blackfeet camp.

They scouted its defenses and then attacked. They killed 68 warriors and collected all their scalps. To the pile of scalps, Johnson added the head of the chief. With their work done, Johnson expressed his gratitude to the trappers for helping him with his most recent act of revenge. helping him with his most recent act of revenge. In Del Gui's account, liver-eating Johnson paused his 12-year feud with the Crow to join the Civil War. He had killed 19 of the 20 warriors who were sent after him. At 41 years old, the liver-eater enlisted in the Union Army in 1864 with a group of young

trappers. Initially given Spencer rifles, Johnson soon discarded his rifle due to its dangerous design. He took a single-shot musket from a fallen enemy, and then served as a sharpshooter in the Second Colorado Cavalry. During fighting at Newtonia, Missouri, Johnson mistakenly scouts Cherokee fighters who were allied with the Union. He was reprimanded and then received an honorable discharge in 1865. Johnson traded his Union gear for supplies and a horse from the Pawnee and returned to trapping, as well as his feud with the Crow. He killed the 20th Crow warrior who had trailed him for more than a decade.

Johnson ate the Crow's liver in his infamous ritual and finally ended his long-standing vendetta. The rest of the 1860s were a blur of highlights for John Johnson. According to the story, he played a small role in Red Clouds War at the end of 1866. After Red Clouds forces led in part by Crazy Horse, killed Captain Federman and 80 U.S. soldiers outside Fort Philcarney in northern Wyoming, a frontiersman known as Portugese Phillips volunteered to ride 236 miles to Fort Laramie to get help. Along the way, Phillips encountered Johnson and another old trapper,

and Johnson provided some sort of assistance. In 1869, Johnson participated in the defense of settlers at Fort Hawley, a trading post and rendezvous spot for hunters and trappers on the Missouri River. Several of Johnson's friends were there, including Del Gue and Bear Claw Chris Lapp. Johnson and Del helped a white woman and a Native American woman who had been badly injured by Lakota warriors. The trappers chased the warriors, caught them in a dry wash, and killed them all. warriors, caught them in a dry wash, and killed them all. After the battle, a trapper named Hatchet Jack Ireland challenged Johnson to eat a warrior's liver, the notorious act that everyone had heard about but few had witnessed.

To maintain his reputation, Johnson bit into the liver while the others watched and silenced the doubters. That winter, John Johnson and a friend visited Crazy Woman's grave. Johnson had heard that Mrs. Morgan had died of starvation, and when he and his friend arrived, they discovered an eight-foot-tall pile of stones over her grave. It was a monument and a sign of respect from his old enemies the Crow, who had known Mrs. Morgan was his friend. After seeing the moving sight, Johnson decided to make peace with the Crow.

He set off westward, with a keg of whiskey as a gift. Johnson met with Crow Chief Grey Bear and his 26 warriors. Johnson declared his intention to end their feud and referenced the monument the Crow had built for Crazy Woman. Grey Bear accepted the peace offering. The old feud was quashed, and a new alliance was formed. With peace established with the Crow, Johnson traveled with some of his mountain man friends to the Bitterroot Mountains to visit his relatives in the Flathead tribe. Along the way, they encountered a young Shoshone man who had survived an attack by the Nez Perce. The mountain men, now numbering around 40, joined forces with the Shoshone,

the Flathead, and the Crow to form a group of 150 fighters under Johnson's command. As the small army went in pursuit of the Nez Perce, the Nez Perce set an ambush. The Nez Perce attacked and inflicted heavy losses on the unsuspecting coalition, but Johnson's army managed to rally and turn the tide of the battle. After both sides suffered significant casualties. The fight ended, and Johnson's group buried their dead. One of the fatalities was a man called Mad Moes, who had been scalped in a previous fight with warriors, but survived. After that ordeal, it was rumored he had gone crazy. After the battle, John Johnson revealed Mad Moes' true identity as John Morgan, the husband

of Crazy Woman. Mrs. Morgan had gone crazy after she discovered her husband's scalped and unconscious and tied to a tree, and her children dead on the ground. But according to the legend, John Morgan had survived his injury, though never returned to his wife. For John, liver-eating Johnson, the 1870s picked up where the 1860s left off. It was a whirlwind decade where Johnson seemed to be everywhere. In the summer of 1871, Fort McPherson, Nebraska became a meeting place for mountain men and notable figures like Buffalo Bill Cody, Texas Jack Omohundro, Doc Carver, and White Eye Anderson. Johnson recruited White Eye Anderson and several others to journey up to Dakota Territory.

Along the way, Blackfoot warriors stole their horses and mules. Johnson got even by making a batch of poisoned biscuits and leaving them nearby. When the warriors rode back through the area, they ate the biscuits and died. Johnson led expeditions into the Black Hills. He scouted for General Nelson Miles in the second half of 1876. He rescued a Native American princess called Waving Grass. He found a delirious white woman who had been scalped by her Sioux captors but managed to escape. He organized a group who found and killed the offenders.

Johnson killed a notorious cowboy with a tomahawk. In 1878, Blackfeet killed Johnson's friend, Bearclaw Chris Lapp, and stole his famous necklace of bear claws. Johnson and Del Gui tracked the Blackfeet, recovered the necklace, and buried it with Lapp's body. It went on and on. Johnson went to Leadville, Colorado, and reunited with Texas Jack O'Mahendro and Colorado Charlie Utter while Bill Hickok's closest friend. Next, Johnson was up at Fort Keough near present-day Miles City, Montana when he accepted an offer to become a deputy sheriff in the nearby town of Colson. Johnson successfully maintained law and order, but he longed for the wilderness. Johnson heard from a friend that another old-timer called Arkansas Pete

was trapping up in Canada. Johnson left his job as deputy sheriff and went up to visit Pete. When Johnson arrived, he found Pete's cabin ransacked, his possession stolen, and Pete's dead body on the floor. Johnson buried Arkansas Pete and then, of course, tracked and killed the warrior who had killed old Pete. Johnson cut out the warrior's liver and took it with him, but he didn't eat it. It was the last liver he ever took, and he intended to use it as bait to attract otter. Johnson and his friend Dell continued to trap along the Yellowstone and Musselshell Rivers. Johnson declined Buffalo Bill's offers to join one of his Wild West shows.

Johnson, still strong in his 60s, often visited the Crow Agency and reminisced with his old foes. sixties often visited the Crow Agency and reminisced with his old foes. Dell eventually left to find better trapping spots, and Johnson moved to the town of Red Lodge, Montana in 1888, where he was unanimously elected the town's first marshal. Johnson's health declined around 1895, and by 1899, he had sold his last piece of land and survived on charity. Friends sent him to the old soldier's home in Los Angeles in December of 1899, where he died on January 21, 1900, at the age of 75. John Johnson, also known as Crow Killer and Liver-Eating Johnson, was buried beneath a simple military headstone in what is now called Los Angeles National Cemetery. That was the legend of John Johnson, who is now known by most people as Jeremiah Johnson and his 50 years of adventures

in the West. Next time on Legends of the Old West, it's the true story, as much as is known, of the man who was most likely born, John Johnston. He's not quite the journeyman of his mythical alter ego, but his story is still entertaining. That's next week on the season finale of the first American Frontier series here on Legends of the Old West. Members of our Black Barrel Plus program don't have to wait week to week to receive new episodes. They receive the entire season to binge all at once with no commercials and they also receive exclusive bonus episodes. Sign up now through the link in the show notes

or on our website, blackbarrelmedia.com. Memberships are just $5 per month. This series was researched and written by Matthew Kearns. Original music by Rob Valier. I'm your host and producer, Chris Wimmer. Thanks for listening. It's the season for new styles Thanks for listening. stores on electronics, holiday travel, home decor, and more. It's super easy and before you buy anything always go to Rakuten first. Join free at rakuten.ca Start shopping and get your cash back sent to you by check or PayPal. Get the

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