Jack Johnson (gunfighter)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Turkey Creek" Jack Johnson (1852?)-(1887) was a gunfighter in the old west. An alias is John Blount, which may or may not be his birth name. He was thought to be a former bookeeper, coming from Missouri. Wyatt Earp claimed to use him as an informer on the "Cow-boys".

Contents 1 Deadwood 2 Earp Vendetta 3 Death in Salt Lake City? 4 In films 5 Citation

[edit] Deadwood

Johnson spent some time in Deadwood in the Dakota Territory in 1876. He is said to have participated in a gunfight in 1876 where he calmly and slowly used two pistol shots to kill two men at 30 yards. They were both trying to kill him with multiple pistol shots. He later is believed to have spent time in Dodge City, Kansas. Little is known about exactly when he met Wyatt Earp. It could have been during Wyatt's buffalo hunting days, or just as easily during the time that both were in Dodge City.

[edit] Earp Vendetta

Writer John H. Flood, in his unpublished 1926 manuscript Wyatt Earp biography (for which many details came from Wyatt himself) said that Johnson was an old friend of the Earps when they came to Tombstone, and this fits with the fact of Johnson's presence on the train to protect Virgil as he left Tombstone for the last time, March 20, 1882.

As a member of the Earp party which protected Virgil on the train, Johnson (as "John Johnson") was co-indicted in absentia with Doc Holliday, Wyatt Earp, Warren Earp, and Sherman McMasters in the killing of Frank Stilwell in Tucson, March 20, 1882. Johnson returned with the others to Tombstone on a freight train that night, and the next day (now joined by Texas Jack Vermillion) rode out in the Earp vendetta ride of 1882, by which time he was a wanted man in the territory for the killing of Stilwell.

[edit] Death in Salt Lake City?

After the Earp vendetta ride, Johnson escaped through Colorado, then Texas. According to the Flood manuscript, Johnson died of tuberculosis in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, in 1887, survived there by a widow.

The Flood manuscript biography states that Johnson was a member of the masonic lodge in Salt Lake City, and estimated that his age at death was about 35 (this last information has been used to esimate the birthdate given above; however it is heavily suspect, as Flood's information on the death age of Vermillion is very erroneous). Any information on Johnson's gravesite in Salt Lake City is sought.*

[edit] In films

Played by Buck Taylor he appears with as a minor character in the movie Tombstone, starring Kurt Russell.

[edit] Citation

• Roy B. Young (1999). Cochise County Cowboy War. Young and Sons Enterprises, Apache O.K.. ISBN not assigned. A self-published but useful compendium of bio information on minor Tombstone characters.

• There may be several John Johnsons or even a John Blount buried in Salt Lake City near this time, but masonic headstones often include the masonic compass symbol.