Liver-Eating Johnson

John Garrison was born in New Jersey at around year 1824.  He joined the military but after his attack on an officer he was kicked out of the Union Army.  He decided to change his name into John Johnson and live in the mountain away from the public scrutiny.

In 1847, Johnson met a beautiful maiden named Swan.  He married Swan and took her to the cabin in the mountain.  During winter John would leave Swan behind in order to hunt for foods.  The hunt would last for quite a long time so John Johnson made sure that there is an adequate amount of food in the cabin for Swan to use before he left.  But unknown to him, Swan was already pregnant with his child.

When the winter was over, John Johnson went back to his cabin only to find a bunch of vultures circling his house.  Upon entering the cabin he discovered the dead body of his wife together with the skull of a baby.  But there was something else inside, he saw a feather which markings resembles the people of the Crow tribe, a sign that the murderer comes from that tribe.  John Johnson held a grudge against the Crow tribe and vowed to kill at least 300 warriors of the Crow.

And true to his word, John Johnson slayed every member of Crow tribe he could find.  He developed a habit of eating their liver after killing them earning the name “Liver-Eating Johnson”.  The Crow tribe feared his name and said that the savagery of John Johnson can be compared to that of a wild animal.

The excerpt below is written by a student of Old West

 Although the Aztecs were well-known for their ritual cannibalism, only theKarankawa tribe of southeast Texas was accused of practicing ritual cannibalismon their defeated enemies. None of the other 1,200 Native American tribesengaged in the eating of human flesh—ritual or otherwise. Of course, as happenson occasion in contemporary times, there may have been times when groups ofindividuals were stranded in snow storms or other situations of enforced isolationwhen cannibalism was prompted by necessity. Other than such extraordinary situations,cannibalism was not a culturally approved practiced by any tribe andthose who were caught in such a perversity were put to death. The Mohawk tribewas called the “man-eaters,” but contemporary tribal leaders insist that was dueto their ferocity as warriors, not their dietary preference.