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 | | Crow Killer: The Saga of Liver-Eating Johnson (Midland Book) by Raymond W. Thorp, Robert Bunker ISBN-10: 9780253203120 ISBN-10: 0-253-20312-0 ISBN-13: 9780253203120 ISBN-13: 978-0-253-20312-0 Paperback 1983-08 Indiana University Press Find Lowest Price |
Reviews | ||
Crow Killer I have read many books and biographies about trapper and traders and this one although a fictional biography (hearsay and letters to the author) was fantastic; many true items; I'm sure. John Johnson - the main character; inspired the movie Jeremiah Johnson, that Robert Redford stared in. Quite the read! | ||
Take it with a grain of salt If you're looking for a quick-reading, action story with colorful characters then this book is for you. If you're looking for accuracy, you better keep looking. As many reviewers have already mentioned, this book is based upon third- and fourth-hand information from old mountain men. Mountain men were famously known for telling "tall tales" and spinning "yarns". They took great delight in telling exagerated stories to "flat-landers". That, alone, should cause one to be skeptical of the authenticity of this book. I can't help but feel that the old mountain men who related these stories to the authors were laughing up their buckskinned sleeves the whole time. Two specific points regarding the lack of authenticity in this book come immediately to my mind... First, Johnson is said to have purchased a .30 caliber Hawken rifle before heading into the mountains. I seriously doubt the Hawken brothers ever made a .30 caliber rifle for mountain men. As an owner of several .30 and .32 caliber blackpowder rifles, I can testify to the fact that they have about the same ballistic performance as a modern .22 rifle. Blackpowder is not as powerful as modern smokeless powder. As a result, rifles intended for hunting and fighting were typically .50 caliber or larger. In those days (as well as today) a .30 caliber blackpowder rifle was considered a "squirrel gun" and was definately not a mountain man weapon. The second point that comes to my mind involves Johnson's escape from Blackfoot captivity. After biting through his rawhide bonds, and knocking his Indian guard unconscious, Johnson used the Indian's knife to cut his leg off at the hip. Facing a winter trek of hundreds of miles, he needed the human leg for food. In the book, the Indian is said to have survived this trauma. Ummm, excuse me, but cutting off a human leg at the hip involves severing the femoral artery. It's one of the biggest arteries in the body, and when severed, results in death in just a couple minutes. I don't doubt some mountain men occassionally resorted to cannibalism to survive, but the idea that this Indian could survive such an injury is hard to believe. There are many other points in this book that I feel are highly questionable, but I won't belabor the point. As I said above, if you like action-packed adventure stories, this book might be right up your alley. Otherwise, it's best to take this supposedly true tale with a very large grain of salt. | ||
The real Johnson Crow Killer is a book of the tales of Johnson. Without those stories, Johnson would not be remembered this day and age. The movie Jeremiah Johnson would not have been made. There would be no interest of finding out more of Liver Eating Johnson. There is a site.....johnlivereatingjohnston.com that covers the real man and there is a picture therein of him circa 1877. He does not look like Redford. Crow Killer covers his adventures and various peers of a time from primitive living to the modern age. | ||
Good There is alot of good info in this book anyone who is into the per1840's will like this book. | ||
Excellent historical novel The author has put together from varying pieces of history the story of a true mountain man whose legend is grown to larger than life. The early west was a brutal and harsh environment, not the romantic scenes that are painted in most novels. This is a good glimpse into the reality of the time and the people who shaped the country as we know it today. | ||