John Calhoun Johnson

Who was John Calhoun Johnson?

John Calhoun Johnson was a native of Deersville, Ohio, who practiced law and operated a ranch in California.

According to Edwin Bryant, who visited Johnson's ranch in August 1846, Johnson was a New England sailor cast upon the coast of California who had first settled on the site of his famous ranch in October, 1845. His first employment in the West was carrying the mail on snowshoes from Placerville to Nevada City, during which time he gave the name of Bigler's Lake to the body of water now known as Lake Tahoe.

Johnson practiced law in the days of the vigilantes and also acted as judge among the miners. When California was admitted to the Union, Johnson was one of the first lawyers to be admitted to the bar of this state and engaged in practice in El Dorado, Amador, Nevada, Sacramento and other northern counties in the District and Circuit Courts. He was also a member of one of the first sessions of the California Legislature.

Shortly after arriving the first time, he returned to the Midwest, where he enlightened several friends and counterparts as to the land, beauty, and opportunities awaiting them out west in the new frontier. Johnson had an Indian scout companion by the name of Fallen Leaf, and John C. Fremont had a scout with the same name. Bearing in mind this could possibly have been the same person; one would have to wonder if Fallen Leaf was companion to Fremont or Johnson first.