Jack Johnson (gunfighter)
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"Turkey Creek" Jack Johnson (1852?)-(1887?) was one of Wyatt Earp's possemen during his infamous "vendetta ride".
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[edit] Early Life
Jack Johnson, born as John Blount, was thought to be a former bookkeeper and lawyer, coming from Missouri. Wyatt Earp claimed to use him as an informer on the "Cow-boys", because Wyatt had gotten the governor to get a petition going for the release of his younger brother, Allan Blount.
[edit] Deadwood
Johnson supposedly 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. There is record of a gambler named Jake Johnson, who owned the Elephant White Saloon and actually lived in Deadwood. This Jake Johnson was present when gambler Luke Short killed Jim Courtright at Fort Worth. There is an account of a marshal named Jack Johnson that shot desperado Mike Fitzgerald for the murder of the Justice of the Peace.
Jack Johnson 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, in Deadwood, or 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Writer John H. Flood, in his unpublished 1926 manuscript Wyatt Earp biography (for which many details came from Wyatt himself) said that Johnson was an old friend of the Earps when they came to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 and Val Kilmer.
[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.
[edit] Note
There may be several John Johnsons or even a John Blunt buried in Salt Lake City near this time, as a mason. Masonic headstones often include the masonic compass symbol.
