Amador ledger. (Jackson, Amador County, Calif.) 1875-19??, 1910-01-14
A Pioneer
OF Five States

The man who lived to be 81 years old
/ S apt to have some unusual adventures.
He is sure to, If he spends much of his
time on the outer edge Of things Such
man is John A. Johnson of Everest.
He was born a pioneer, having first
seen the light in Shelby county, Ken
lucky, February 10, 1928, at time
when that state was wilder than it is to-
day, although it has never acquired a re-
putaton for meekness and domestrcity.
He moved WITH his parents in 1927 to
Davies county, Kentucky, where lie
grew to manhood. The early move may
have made an impression on the child
mind, or springing from pioneer stock
may have been natural that he should
go and do likewise when years turned
loose the wandering foot. AT any rate,
he started when nineteen years old, and
didn't stop for good until he had seen
more Of the world than most men do in
lifetime; more of the wild places
than one could find in these days of
spreading civilization. With the Rev.
George Pickel a Baptist minister, he
went to Texas in 1843. Near Dallas,
which then contained but one house, the
wandering feet tarred to try farming FOR
two years. But before him always lay
the long trail, and in lS45 he followed
it back to the boyhood home in Ken
lucky.
1t was natural that Johnson should
feel again the call of adventure when the
Mexican war broke out and he did
But the fates that have carried him far
played him false on that occasion. The
Mexican war, like the Spanish Ameri
can war; saw more Young men anxious
for service than the government could
use, and Johnson company was never
ordered out. But in l849 he wandered
again, this time going to Buchanan
county, Missouri, which was then, be-
fore the days OF Kansas settlement, the
border land. He farmed there a year,
but in 1850 he was on the road again.
following the long trail of gold seekers
to California. The company he joined
crossed the river at the present site of
Atchison. OF the wagon train which he
joined, many of the teams were oxen,
and painfully slow for man going to
pick up a fortune. So Johnson, and
several of his companions. who had
5Wifter beasts and were in hurry,
went on. Seventy-five days out of Atchi.
son they reached Placervile, Cal Seven
ty-fve days, and they we're in hurry |!
Now it is scant three days journey on
comfortable cars. There have been some
changes in half century.
Placervile was then known as Hang
town, and it didn t get that name with
out earning it, The California which
Johnson knew was the California of
Brete Harte. A land of gold camps, and
gamblers bad men, and vigilantes to
make them be coed. If they wouldn' t
be good, they were hanged, and there
were other Hangtowns besides Placer
Vile. For eight years Mr. Johnson
dabbled in mining as it was done in the
early days, without becoming bonanza
king. Then he hit the long trail again,
coming home longer route than he took
going out From San Francisco, he
went by ship to the Isthmus of Panama,
which he crossed on train which re-
quired two engines to lift it over the
narrow lsthmina divide. The ride over
that ridge made lasting impression on
Mr. Johnson; so strong all Impression
that to-day he is among the doubters as
10 the ultimate success OF the Panama
canal. He says the government will
never get enough water in the big ditch
to float ship.
From the Caribbean terminal OF the
Panama railroad, Johnson took ship, to
Cuba. then and for years after Spanish
colony But he tarried there only long
enough to catch the next ship to New
Orleans. From New Orleans, he came
up the Mississippi and Missouri rivers
to Atchison, which had been growing
into something of pioneer city in the
meantime. But while he came to Kan
sas in time to be pioneer, as he had
been in Kentucky, Texas, Missouri and
California, as on the long route which
joined them, this state proved to be
what he was looking for. 1t has proved
that for many others, as those who have
left only to return, can testify, and it is
proof of their wisdom that they linger
here, after wandering far in search of