John Garrison Jeremiah Johnson was born in 1824 in Little York, New Jersey. In 1846 he enlisted in the Navy; after beating an officer to a pulp, he deserted and fled west.


 In Alder Gulch, Montana, he became a gold prospector and called himself only John Johnson. Later, he worked as a lumberjack, a trapper, and in other more or less legal jobs. It was hard not to notice him, because of his two meters of height, his 120 kilos of muscles, and his frequent outbursts of anger and fury.


In 1847 he married a Flathead Indian. Shortly afterward, his wife was killed by the Crow, an enemy tribe. If only they had never done it. Johnson began the hunt for the Crow. His revenge would go on for 25 years. And it would be terrible. According to historian Andrew Southerland, "He killed and scalped more than 300 Crow Indians. And he ate the liver of each one." Hence the nickname. Johnson's is a disdain: the Crows believe that without a liver you can't go to the green pastures.


"Liver Eater" becomes the terror of the Indians. In 1863, captured by the Blackfeet, he is about to be sold to the Crows. But he escapes after tearing the leather ties with his teeth. After killing the Indian guard, he cuts off his leg with a large knife. He takes it with him and eats it during the long escape in the snow: 300 kilometers to a friend's shack.


He then enlists in the Union Army, where he fights bravely. There is also time to make peace with the Crows, who become "blood brothers". But in the Indian wars "Dapiek Absaroka", the Crow killer, as he is known among the Indians, will massacre Sioux and Blackfeet. In the 1880s he is sheriff in Red Lodge, Montana. He will die in 1900 in a hospice for war veterans.


The main character of the western film “Red Crow: You Will Not Have My Scalp” was modeled on his life. To play him, director Sidney Pollack chose (guess what?) the angelic face of Robert Redford... continue reading 

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