Just finished Crow Killer, Liver Eatin’ Johnston, by Nathan E. Bender. Great read about the mountain men in the middle 1800’s. John Johnston was a far distant man than was depicted by a Hollywood. But, a man of principle when it came to his trapping partners.

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Yes, I read it too. Good read! Brian

Don't know if it's true, but I heard he fought in the Civil War in the West and was a bit of a disciplinary problem because he continued to scalp and eat livers. Don't know if it's true. If it was, that would be rather detrimental to the opposition's morale.

Well, I can only assume that he was called 'liver eating Johnson' for a reason. Mans fear of being eaten is a great psychological weapon (R/E Jaws)

Hey Norman. We're all going to be eaten by something, so personally, I don't understand it, but most people have an aversion to being eaten. I view it as inevitable.

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Originally posted by lavaca:
Don't know if it's true, but I heard he fought in the Civil War in the West and was a bit of a disciplinary problem because he continued to scalp and eat livers. Don't know if it's true. If it was, that would be rather detrimental to the opposition's morale.

It's highly likely he removed the livers from Crow warriors to "mark" the kill, because he wanted to make damned sure they knew which ones were his. As I recall, there was only a single time he was actually witnessed to have taken a single bite from one, basically on a dare, but he was known to use Crow liver as trap bait.