Johnson is said to have been born in New Jersey with the name John Garrison. Some accounts say that he joined the United States Navy in 1846 during the Mexican-American War but, after striking an officer, he deserted, changed his name to John Johnston, and traveled west to trap and hunt in Wyoming. He also became a "woodhawk," supplying cord wood to steamboats. He was described as a large man, standing around six feet tall and weighing over two hundred pounds.
Rumors, legends and campfire tales abound about Johnson. Perhaps chief among them is this legend: In 1847, his American Indian wife was killed by members of the Crow tribe, which prompted Johnson to embark on a 20-year vendetta against the tribe. The legend says that he would cut out and eat the liver of each man killed, but it's quite possible that this only happened once and that he just pretended to eat the liver. In any case, he eventually became known as "Liver-Eating Johnson" (usually spelled without the t in Johnston). Since eating the liver of a victim is a symbolic way of completing a revenge slaying, some credence might be given to this activity.
Another story is when Johnson was ambushed by a group of Blackfoot warriors in the dead of winter on a foray to visit his Flathead kin, a trip that would have been over five hundred miles. The Blackfoot planned to sell him to the Crow, his mortal enemies, for a handsome price. He was stripped to the waist, tied with leather thongs and put in a teepee with an inexperienced guard outside. Johnson managed to chew through the straps, then knocked out his young guard with a two-finger jab between the eyes, took his knife and scalped him, then quickly cut off one of his legs. He made his escape into the woods, and survived on the Blackfoot's leg until he reached the cabin of Del Gue, his trapping partner, more dead than alive, a journey of about two hundred miles.
