The newly-weds settled in a small log cabin that Johnston had built on the Little Snake River, probably in what is today’s Idaho. His wife’s Flathead name meant “the swan” and she was said to have been as gracious and beautiful as the wild, white birds that flew over the mountains every fall on their way south.
For a few weeks, the couple enjoyed the rewards of marriage. But beaver season was coming soon and Johnston knew that he had to leave his bride and head for the icy streams that poured out of the mountains. He had to trap the rich furs that would pay for next year’s supplies. Making certain to leave Swan well provisioned, he bid her farewell.
Johnston was horribly shocked when he returned home from his trapping expedition. As he approached the cabin, he sensed that something was wrong. For a long time, he studied the area from a distance, and when he was satisfied that there was no danger, he proceeded into the forest opening in which the structure sat.
Inside, he quickly discovered the stark, white skull of Swan, and not too far away the rest of her skeleton. Mixed in with her remains were the tiny skull and skeleton of a human fetus. Johnston turned away as he wondered whether his wife would have borne him a son or a daughter.
The grieving mountain man pieced together what had happened. A Crow war party had killed and scalped Swan and smothered the life out of his unborn child.
Johnston carefully placed the skeletal remains of his family in an iron kettle which he carried to a secret place in the forest. He hid the pot in a deep crevice in the side of a cliff and, as far as anyone knows, there it still remains.
Johnston made a pact with himself that day. He vowed never to meet a Crow warrior who would not pay with his life for the murder of his family.
He became the archenemy of the entire Crow nation and his prowess and effectiveness at slaughtering Crow men became legendary throughout the native population.
One after another Crow warrior paid dearly for the war party’s attack that day on the Little Snake River. Horrified survivors observed that Johnston would cut open the bellies of his victims, extract their livers, and rub the blood from the organs into his long beard. Thus, the legend of “Liver-Eating” Johnston was born.
My favorite line from the movie was when Johnson began to say something to the Flathead chief that would have been seen as horribly insulting, and Del Gue stops him by informing him that such a comment would cause the Indians to "cut him from crotch to eyeball with a dull deer antler." Heh, yeah, don't want that!
His grave site and monument in Wyoming are really special. There's a good photo of them on his Wikipedia page, if you're interested.
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