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Old West
Lawmen - J-K
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Grant Johnson (1858–1929) - The son of a Black Chickasaw, and Black Creek
mother, Grant grew up to become a
U.S. Deputy Marshal in
Indian Territory.
Serving under
Judge Isaac Parker
for at least 14 years, he began as a
U.S. Deputy Marshal around
1887 in Indian Territory and was extremely effective as he knew the customs and language of the Muskogee Creek nation. Often
working with Bass Reeves, the pair captured one of the most notorious outlaws in
the territory,
Abner Brasfield. Johnson also captured
the noted counterfeiter, Amos Hill; Choctaw outlaw Chahenegee; the
murderers, John Pierce and Bill Davis; the Cherokee outlaw, Columbus Rose;
train robber, Wade Chamberlee, and dozens of others. During his career,
Isaac Parker considered Johnson one of his most effective deputies.
Jack "Turkey Creek" Johnson (1852?-1887?) - Thought to have been a
bookkeeper and lawyer in
Missouri, before he headed west, Johnson spent some
time in
Deadwood,
South Dakota
where he got into a
gunfight with two men at 30 yards. Some say the men were his
gold mining partners. Later, he was known to have been in
Dodge City,
Kansas,
where he may have first made the acquaintance of
Wyatt Earp. Next he turned up
in
Tombstone,
Arizona, where he worked along side the
Earps as a deputy marshal. After
Morgan Earp was killed on March 18, 1882,
Virgil and the
Earp women,
boarded a train, along with
Morgan's body, for
California. Along the way, they
were protected by
Wyatt and his friends, including Jake Johnson. When they ran
into Frank
Stillwell, whom they suspected as being one of
Morgan's killers, in
Tucson on March 20th.
Stillwell's bullet ridden body was found the next morning.
In the meantime, Johnson had returned with the others to
Tombstone, and the next
day, joined by Texas Jack Vermillion, began the
Earp Vendetta Ride. In the
meantime, Johnson, along with Doc Holliday,
Wyatt Earp,
Warren Earp, and
Sherman McMasters, were indicted in absentia for Stillwell's killing. After the
Earp Vendetta Ride, Johnson escaped first to
Colorado before moving on to
Texas and
then Salt Lake City,
Utah. He died in Salt Lake City in 1887 of tuberculosis.
John "Liver Eating" Johnston,
aka: John Garrison (1824?-1900) -
Primarily known
as a mountain man, Indian fighter and
lawman,
New Jersey born John Johnston’s birth name was actually John Garrison. He
joined the Navy during the Mexican-American War, but after striking an officer,
he deserted and changed his name to John Johnston. He then traveled to
Montana
where he worked as a trapper, miner, wagon master, scout, tour guide, whiskey
peddler, and supplier of cord wood to passing steamboats. He also served with
the Union during the
Civil War.
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Johnston
is purported to have married a Flathead squaw named the
Swan, who was
said to have been killed by the
Crow.
He then supposedly waged a personal war against the
Crow, killing
any Crow warrior he saw. Neither of these legends actually occurred
because Johnston’s military records tell us he was a sailor, onboard ship,
during the Mexican American War. Similarly, Johnston never did eat
anyone’s liver. One day during a
Sioux
battle, he jokingly told his companions he ate a piece of liver. Hence,
his nickname, "Liver Eating" Johnson,” was earned through a macabre joke.
Johnston became the
constable of Coulson/Billings,
Montana in
the early 1880’s. He also served as town marshal in Red Lodge,
Montana in
the 1890’s. In December, 1899, he was admitted to a veteran's hospital in
Los Angeles,
California
where he died the next month on January 21, 1900, of peritonitis. He was
buried in nearby Sawtelle National Cemetery. However, in the early 1970s
his body was moved to Cody,
Wyoming,
where it now rests at Old Trail Town with several other local old west
characters. A number of legends surround Johnston, some of which are the
basis for the movie Jeremiah Johnson.
Dave Kemp
(18??-1930s) - While still in his youth, Kemp was sentenced to hang for
killing a man in Hamilton,
Texas. While
awaiting his execution attempted to escape by jumping from the second story of
the courthouse. Breaking both ankles, he was quickly recaptured. His sentence
was commuted to life, but later he received a pardon. Afterwards, he moved on to
Eddy (now Carlsbad),
New Mexico
where he established a butcher shop and became the Eddy County sheriff in 1889.
He was also a co-owner in a casino in Phoenix,
Arizona
and as sheriff, he tended to cater to the interests of gamblers. But this was
the least of his crookedness. When Dee Harkey, a
U.S. Deputy Marshal
caught him stealing cattle, he forced Kemp to leave the county. The crooked
lawman
then went to
Arizona,
but returned when Les Dow, with whom he was a bitter enemy, replaced him as
sheriff in Eddy. In April, 1896, Kemp shot Dow to death. Quickly arrested, Kemp
was acquitted on a plea of self-defense. However, he allegedly had forced the
only eye witness to to leave town. Kemp then went back to
Texas, where
he returned to cattle rustling. He was shot to death by his sister in the 1930s.
Frank King (1863-1920's)
-
A dedicated
lawman,
King was a deputy sheriff of Phoenix,
Arizona
in the 1880s and worked as a
lawman
in
Texas,
New Mexico
and
California
in the next decade. In 1889, he served briefly as a guard at the Yuma,
Arizona
prison, during which a massive prison break was attemptedl. Before it was put
down, five prisoners lay dead, shot at the hands of King who was the only guard
in the main tower. By 1896, King had returned to being a lawman and was in a gun
battle with Will Christian and his gang when they attempted to rob a bank in
Nogles,
Arizona on August 6th.
Continued
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From the Rocky Mountain General Store
Old
West Postcards - If you
love collecting postcards of the
Old West,
you're going to love these. Each one of these is unique and, in many
cases, we have only one available, so don't wait. To see them all,
click
HERE!
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