By Raymond W. Thorp (author) & Robert Bunker (author) & Richard Mercer Dorson (author)
ISBN: 0253203120
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Indiana University Press
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John "Liver-Eating" Johnston (or "Johnson" in some accounts) cut quite a figure in the days of the mountain men. The problem is that very little was written about him during his own time, leaving his exploits to be told and retold, and likely exaggerated. There are chapters about him in Still Speaking Ill of the Dead and Characters of the Past, the latter telling of when he was our resident lawman here in Red Lodge, but Thorp had to rely largely on the memories of old men and 2nd, 3rd, and 4th-hand tellings of Johnston's exploits.
"Liver-Eating" Johnston got his nickname after he swore revenge on the Crow Indians for killing his pregnant wife. This book tells of his single-minded mission to pay them back, killing 300 Crow warriors, scalping them, and eating their livers. It also talks about his later life, trying to fit into a changing society.
Johnston was fictionalized in the movie Jeremiah Johnson (inspired by the book, Mountain Man), and played by Robert Redford. By all accounts, the real man was bigger, bulkier, and tougher than Redford. Certainly this book is about the real man, but many accounts (including Still Speaking Ill of the Dead) call Crow Killer more fiction than truth. Whether it's completely true or not, it's an enjoyable book, and gives you a feeling for life in the mountain man era.
Western History→Biographies→Other
Western History→Mountain Man→Nonfiction