Talk:Liver-Eating Johnson

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Can anybody produce a reliable citation for Johnston being 6'6" tall? I've been inside his cabin in Red Lodge, Montana, and I can't believe someone would build a cabin with a ceiling that short if he was that tall. Gary D Robson 22:29, 18 September 2005 (UTC)

1 exact height of John Johnson
2 Parents of John GARRISON a.k.a. John "Jeremiah" Johnson
3 Confirmation of Johnston being huge
4 This article needs to be cleaned up

[edit] exact height of John Johnson

The book Crow Killer: Saga of Liver Eating Johnson states that he was approximatly six foot and powerfully built in 1843 at about the age of twenty (page twenty five). Apparently, like most information about him, nobody had the temerity to actually ask him such a personal question ! --Zennonx 02:20, 21 September 2005 (UTC)

Much of the content of Raymond W Thorp's book, 'Crow Killer,' has been called into question (see, for example, the essay in 'Still Speaking Ill of the Dead,' from the Montana Historical Society). 'Crow Killer' is a collection of second- and third-hand anecdotes with little hard data backing it up. They're probably right in this case (concerning his height), but if we can't do any better than that, we should probably remove the reference to his height entirely and simply say that he was "tall and powerfully built." Everyone seems to agree on that much. Gary D Robson 04:16, 21 September 2005 (UTC)

Agreed. suffice it to say, regardless his height/weight, people who knew and rode with him saw him as a large powerful man. This seems to be a common response to people who generate a great deal of respect, and in his case, physical space/distance from his person! As regards your original assessment that his cabin in Red Lodge (which I've never seen) was kind of low for a man of his alleged height, I have visited a few settler/pioneer cabins here in the midwest and was also struck by how low they are, including Abe Lincolns homestead outside Springfield, Il. Maybe it was to conserve energy and resources for the really important stuff, like the barn !?--User:zennonx 19:12, 21 September 2005 (UTC)

He had no livestock and built no barn. It was just the one little cabin. Gary D Robson 16:13, 22 September 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Parents of John GARRISON a.k.a. John "Jeremiah" Johnson

Low ceilings were actually popular in cabins for easier heating.

Here is what I would like to know. Who were John GARRISON alias John "Jeremiah" Johnson parents? Looking at New Jersey after 1824 for his parents. There were at least 112 GARRISON households in New Jersey in 1830. None were listed in the city Little York, but three households in Hunterdon Co. NJ: John R P GARRISON, William GARRISON, and George GARRISON. Only John R P GARRISON with 1 female under 5/daughter, 1 male 5-10/son, 1 female 20-30/wife, 1 male 30-40/self, has a male young enough to be John Garrison a.k.a. John "Jeremiah" Johnston b.1824. Although I do not know if John R P GARRISON is the father of John "Jeremiah" Johnston, he is the son of William + Ose (Roberts) GARRISON. Father and son appeared next to each other on the 1830 U.S. CENSUS in Amwell, Hunterdon, New Jersey.

So, does anyone know who the parents of John GARRISON alias John "Jeremiah" Johnson were? --CatherineProphitDemers 16:26, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Confirmation of Johnston being huge

In the book "Footsteps along the Yellowstone" the author Randall Naylor says that not only was Johnston 6 and a half feet tall but also 250 pounds. He cites a man named Horn Miller who rode with Johnston for years, and was reveared for his brutal honesty. This book is out of print now, and the only place your going to be able to find it is at a used book store. It was published by the Naylor Company publishing house.